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MUNICIPAL 
STREET CLEANING 
IN PHILADELPHIA — 


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BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH OF PHILADELPHIA 
JUNE, 1924 


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MUNICIPAL 
STREET CLEANING 
IN PHILADELPHIA 


An Analysis of the Problem of Street Cleaning and Refuse 
Collection and Disposal, with an Evaluation of the 
Results Attained During the First Year of 
City-Wide Municipal Operation 


PREPARED BY THE ~—— 
BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH OF PHILADELPHIA 
PUBLISHED JUNE, 1924 ‘ 


FOREWORD 


The change from the contract system of street cleaning to 
municipal operation, which was begun on January 1, 1921, and 
completed a year later, is one of the most important events in the 
recent history of Philadelphia. An imposing task, requiring a 
huge organization of men and equipment and touching intimately 
the welfare of every resident, was taken, by this change, out of 
the hands of private individuals and added to the activities of 
our city government. 

It was not without a struggle that this change was brought 
about. Many persons opposed it on the ground that the city 
would not do the work so well nor so cheaply as the contractors. 
The opposition, however, was not strong enough to prevent the 
adoption by the state legislature of 1919, as part of the so-called 
“new charter” act, of a provision decidedly favorable to municipal 
street cleaning. By this provision the city not only gained the power 
to employ its own street-cleaning forces, but was commanded to 
do so unless the mayor and council decided jointly to have the 
work done by contract. After the new charter went into effect, 
there followed a period of almost two years of doubt and hesita- 
tion on the part of the municipal administration. Largely through 
caution, the city began the new undertaking on a small scale, con- 
fining it at first to the central section of the city. The results in 
that section, however, proved most favorable, and on January 1, 
1922, municipal street cleaning was extended to the entire city. 

Now that Philadelphia has had actual experience with city- 
wide municipal street cleaning, ardent champions and doubters 
alike may well turn to that experience for light. It seems op- 
portune, therefore, to analyze and evaluate the results that have 
been attained by the new method; to search out the major weak- 
nesses in organization, personnel, plant, and equipment; and to 
point out how the city’s operations may be improved. 

Early in 1923, at the invitation of Frank H. Caven, at that 
time director of the department of public works, the Bureau of 
Municipal Research undertook this task. Throughout the study, 
the Bureau has had the fullest cooperation, first from Director 
Caven, later from his successor, Director George H. Biles, and from 
the personnel of the street-cleaning division. Mention should be 


4 


made particularly of the assistance of John H. Neeson, formerly 
deputy chief of the bureau of highways, in charge of the street- 
cleaning division, now chief of the bureau of highways; and of 
Percy F. Proctor, now deceased, who for a time was in charge 
of the street-cleaning work. Grateful acknowledgment of these 
courtesies is hereby made. 

The survey was conducted and the report prepared orincinallll 
by James W. Follin, who until recently was the engineer of the 
Bureau’s staff. Mr. Follin had followed the street-cleaning proj- 
ect since 1919 and had served as a member of the mayor’s com- 
mission of engineers of 1920. When he left the Bureau to take up 
his new duties with the state highway department of Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Follin had completed his part of the survey, but the report 
was not yet in final form. Charles A. Howland, who succeeded 
Mr. Follin as the Bureau’s staff engineer, has rendered valuable 
service in the completion of the report, particularly in the ar- 
rangement of the material. Robert J. Patterson, chief accountant 
on the Bureau’s staff, has assisted as consultant on bookkeeping 
and accounting problems and on methods of controlling expendi- 
tures. The undersigned has studied the personnel problems of the 
street-cleaning division and prepared the charter devoted to this 
subject. 

WILLIAM C. BEYER 
Director 


CONTENTS 


Pes (sO UN DI AAIN DON) TiO) ie yeaa hin mas im Os 
History of street cleaning and refuse disposal in Philadel- 
phia—Defects of contract work—Municipal operation in- 
troduced—The scope of the street-cleaning operations— 
Extent of the work—Local handicaps—Size and cost of the 
street-cleaning organization—Appraisal—Change to munici- 
pal operation—Standard of service—Permanent plant—Ex- 


pense—Recommendations—Outlook. 


fimo te NIZATION | PAN AND: BOULPMENT) oo och cise c 
General organization—Districts—District organization— 
Auxiliary services—Maintenance of motor equipment— 
Maintenance of horse-drawn equipment—Shops—Care of 
horses—Storehouse and supply service—Clerical and ac- 
counting service—Plant and equipment—Plant acquired— 
Street equipment—Livestock-—-Stables—Improvements to 
leased property—Purchase of leased property—The model 
farm—City stable at Glenwood Avenue and Diamond Street 


—Conclusions and recommendations. 


Pe an CE ECR AT FOUN SPS PSS RGR ry OS AS i He Fee's 
Street cleaning—Difficulties of street cleaning—Improve- 
ments in methods—Quantity of work performed—Disposal 
of street sweepings—Relative value of various methods— 
Collection of ashes and rubbish—Separation of household 
wastes—Method of collection—Changes in schedules—Quan- 
tity collected in 1922—Garbage collection—Manner of col- 
lection—Private collection—Equipment in use—Garbage-col- 
lection complaints—Frequency of collection—Amount col- 


lected—Conclusions and recommendations. 


CONTENTS—Continued 


LV&DISPOSAL OR “REBUN i... ns. ceneaeeuaasie ye 


Disposal of ashes, rubbish, and street dirt—Dumps—Har- 
rowgate incinerator—Aspects of the incinerating project— 
Disposal of garbage—Garbage reduction—Results of opera- 
tion of garbage-reduction plant—Garbage incineration— 
Water transportation—City ownership of dumps and water- 
transportation equipment—Conclusions and recommenda- 


tions. 


V. PERSONNEL PROBLEMS oo. oo. css. . eee 


Introduction—Size of the street-cleaning service—Street 
cleaning, collection and disposal of ashes and rubbish, and 
collection of garbage—Municipal garbage plant—Importance 
of competence and morale—Purpose and scope of chapter— 
Distribution of employment authority—Relation of the civil- 
service commission to the problem—The commission’s im- 
portant place—Classification of the service—The competi- 
tive class—The labor class—No changes proposed for com- 
petitive class—Conflicting viewpoints on labor class—Argu- 
ment of the operating officials—Expedition in recruiting 
not only need; physical tests—Exemption from civil-service 
control dubious—Positive advantages of civil-service con- 
trol—Suggested changes in the commission’s practices— 
Adequacy of compensation—Tests of adequacy—City’s pay 
compared with private pay—City’s pay compared with rates 
paid in other cities—City’s pay compared with the cost of 
living—High turnover in the labor service—The need of 
city-wide standardization of pay——Tentative recommenda- 
tions for street-cleaning workers—General working condi- 
tions—Hours of work—Vacations—Holidays—Sick leave— 
Provision for retirement—Conclusion—General appraisal— 


Summary of recommendations. 


70 


CONTEN TS—Continued 


eeeWrNCLAL; CONSIDERATIONS os oer c dp ae cease wae a 
Cost of municipal operation—Comparison of municipal and 
contract costs—Financial control—Payrolls—Stores—Rec- 
ords of equipment—Operating costs—Conclusions and rec- 


ommendations. 


are Were ksy t Jie bates EO BEI co romeaeesceseame « 


Educational campaign of 1922—Inadequacy of laws and - 


ordinances—Cooperation in street cleaning—The household- 


er’s handicap—Conclusions and Recommendations. 


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CHAPTER I 


BACKGROUND AND GUTLOOK 


The decision to place street cleaning and refuse collection 
and disposal in the hands of municipal forces was largely the 
outcome of past experience. It will help our understanding of 
the problem, therefore, to review briefly the history of street 
cleaning in Philadelphia. 


History oF STREET CLEANING AND REFUSE DISPOSAL IN 
PHILADELPHIA 


As long ago as 1762, an act of the state legislature provided 
in elaborate detail for regulating, paving, and cleaning the high- 
ways of Philadelphia. This act, besides imposing a penalty for 
throwing rubbish or ashes into the streets, required the city to 
contract with private scavengers for weekly collection of rubbish 
and ashes and the removal of refuse from the streets. 

From this beginning, the work was done by private con- 
tractors until 1921, exept for two periods. During the 14 years 
{rom 1826 to 1840, the city did its own street cleaning. At that 
time, we are told by historians, the city was famous, both at 
home and abroad, as the cleanest city in America. Will history 
be repeated, and the city acquire this enviable reputation again? 
The second period of municipal street cleaning began immediately 
after the city and county of Philadelphia were made coterminous 
by the Consolidation Act of 1854 and continued until about Io 
years later, when contract work was reintroduced. In 1874, the 
legislature made contract work obligatory. Between 1854 and 
1874, there was frequent shifting of the responsibility for the 
work in the city government, and there was apparently dis- 
satisfaction with the methods used and the results attained. 

The city cleansing services have been associated generally 
with highway work; for example, section 50 of the Act of Con- 
solidation directed the city councils to organize a department of 
“highways, bridges, sewers and cleansing of the city.”” When the 
Bullitt Bill went into effect in 1887, the supervision of cleaning 
the streets and of collecting and disposing of household wastes 
became the duty of the department of public works. Even 


9 


16) 


under this more highly centralized and responsible administra- 
tion, the supervision of contracts was constantly shifting. For 
two periods this function was vested in a separate bureau of 
the department, while during two other periods it was conibined 
with paving and street-repair work. The contracts let for the 
work combined the street-cleaning and refuse-disposal services, 
and it naturally followed that these two services should be per- 
formed by the same division of the city government when the 
work was undertaken by municipal forces. Since October, 1920, 
the street-cleaning and refuse-disposal work has been done by 
the division of street cleaning, as a part of the bureau of high- 
ways in the department of public works, under the direction of 
a deputy chief. 


Defects of Contract Work 


Contract work involves the difficult problem of enforcing 
compliance with the specifications of the contract. This is par- 
ticularly difficult in street cleaning, requiring as it does a number 
of more or less irregular operations necessitated by the constantly 
varying traffic, and climatic and local conditions, for which it is 
impossible to prepare definite specifications. Moreover, as the 
results to be obtained are intangible and the degree of cleanliness 
demanded is difficult to specify, constant inspection of the work 
of each unit of the organization is necessary. Adequate inspec- 
tion by the city of the work of the contractor, besides being 
practically impossible, would be extremely expensive to attempt 
and would result in a duplication of the overhead charges for 
which the citizen must pay. On the other hand, the way is open 
for the contractor to reap exorbitant profits by cutting every 
corner. It is decidedly to hts financial interest to contro] the 
city’s supervisory forces, hence the contract system introduces 
a baneful influence into municipal politics, Under the plan of 
making contracts for one year only, which the city followed, 
competition among bidders was almost non-existent, and new 
bidders hesitated to enter the field. A contractor had to make 
the necessary outlay, with a certainty of only one year’s opera- 
tion, in addition to the uncertainty of the attitude of the city’s 
supervising forces. 

From 1912 to 1916, a determined effort was made to revise 
the specifications so as to fix more definitely the work to be 


II 


performed, while at the same time more complete compliance 
with the specifications was demanded. New requirements were 
introduced, such as the one defining the minimum equipment and 
labor to be employed, and numerous devices were used to check 
the performance. One device was the ‘flying squadron,” which 
for a time was employed to swoop down unheralded upon the 
contractor’s forces in the several districts. However, the tem- 
porary advantages gained by these more strenuous efforts at 
supervision were so small and the fundamental defects of the 
contract method were so great that the results attained were still 
unsatisfactory. 

The collection and disposal of refuse by contract was found 
to have the same basic faults as contract street cleaning. Jt was 
equally difficult to devise means of supervision and enforcement 
which would insure efficient operation. In addition, it was 
specially hard to obtain the cooperation of the householder with 
the contractor. This personal relation of the citizen to the col- 
lection work is an important factor and will be discussed in 
detail later. At this time it is sufficient to say that the refuse- 
disposal service obtained under the contract system was unsatis- 
factory, and no means were found to place the work on an efh- 
cient basis. 

In the end, civic effort was concentrated upon the elimina- 
tion of the contract method, and the substitution of municipal 
forces working under the control of city officials, which is the 
method employed in practically all large American cities. Owing 
to the fact that the city government operates within the narrow 
bounds of authority granted by legislative enactment, and that 
the legislature had not expressly authorized the city to employ 
its own forces to clean the streets and collect and dispose of 
refuse, it was necessary to obtain this authority. 

A bill granting this power was introduced into the legisla- 
ture in 1917, but failed of passage. The cause of municipal 
street cleaning, however, was championed not only by the citizens’ 
charter revision committee of 1917, at whose request the bill 
was introduced, but also by the citizens’ charter revision com- 
mittee of 1919. in fact, municipal street cleaning became a 
major issue that was fought and won in the 1919 legislature. 
Not only did the city gain the power to employ its own street- 
cleaning forces, but it was commanded to do so unless the city 


I2 


council and mayor jointly decided to award contracts in whole 
or in part. This change in the law destroyed the rigidity of the 
act of 1874, previously referred to, which had not only compelled 
contract performance, but practically had limited the contract 
period to one year. If the city should now desire to contract for 
any or all of the cleansing operations, it is empowered to con- 
tract for long terms without being forced to make an appropria- 
tion in advance sufficient to cover the entire contract period. 
While the law gives preference to direct municipal operation, 
the city is empowered to determine its own policy at any time. 


Municipal Operation Introduced 


The city administration which took office on January 5, 1920, 
was bound under the charter to initiate municipal street cleaning 
on January I, 1921, unless the city council and the mayor agreed 
in the meantime to continue contract work in whole or in part, 
and to advertise for bids prior to August 1, 1920. Accordingly, 
the year 1920 was a year of decision-making and of preparation. 
To aid in determining the best policy, the mayor sent a com- 
mission of engineers* to a number of other cities to study and 
report upon the street-cleaning and refuse-disposal operations. 
The unanimous recommendation of this commission was that the 
city undertake the work of cleaning the streets and collecting 
and disposing of household wastes with its own forces. There 
was, however, some slight disagreement concerning the speed 
and manner in which this important change should be made. In 
view of several uncertainties that had arisen and of the unformed 
state of administrative policy, contract bids for 192I were re- 
quested practically upon the old basis. It was decided finally to 
introduce municipal street cleaning and refuse disposal in two 
of the 13 districts, these two comprising the central city area 
(Columbia Avenue to South Street between the two rivers). Con- 
tracts for one year were let for the remainder of the city. 

On January I, 1922, direct municipal operations were ex- 
tended to the entire city with practically unanimous consent. At 


*Composed of E. B. Morden, then chief of the bureau of street 
cleaning; J. H. Neeson, then principal assistant engineer, bureau of high- 
ways; and J. W. Follin, engineer, Bureau of Municipal Research. Their 
report will be found in the appendix (vol. I1) of the Journal of the City 
Council of Philadelphia, 1920, page 244, and in the Journal of the En- 
gineers’ Club of Philadelphia for August, 1920, page 326. 


13 


least there was no opposition apparent on the surface, although 
there had been a realignment of political forces. When the 
administration attempted to terminate the 1921 contracts on 
October 1, in accordance with an optional provision of the con- 
tract, the city council objected, but voted almost immediately 
thereafter the sums needed to acquire additional plant and equip- 
ment for city-wide municipal operation. Council also made no 
use of the optional authority given by the charter to advertise 
for contract bids for 1922, It is worth while to mention that 
an attempt was frustrated in the 1921 legislature to make the 
advertising for bids obligatory rather than optional. Such a 
change would have reopened each year the question between con- 
tract and municipal operation, and thus supported and encour- 
aged those who would contract for these services without regard 
for the best interests of the city. 


THE SCOPE OF THE STREET-CLEANING OPERATIONS 


In this day there is almost universal recognition of the duty 
of city governments to keep the streets clean, to collect household 
waste, and to dispose of this waste quickly and inoffensively. 
This service constitutes one of the most essential functions of 
the city government, and perhaps the most troublesome, because 
it touches the citizen personally at nearly every turn. The streets 
are the show windows of the city, and any neglect in keeping 
them well paved or reasonably clean is apparent to all who use 
them, but particularly to visitors. The householder is especially 
interested in the condition of the street in front of his own resi- 
dence. Although he may not be doing his part to keep the street 
clean, he nevertheless expects that it will be clean at all times. 
The collection of waste, particularly of garbage, is perhaps more 
of a personal matter with him than is the street-cleaning work. 
But, if the household waste is collected frequently and in accord- 
ance with a fixed schedule, the householder usually gives little 
or no thought to the manner of its disposal, unless he resides 
near a refuse dump or other place of disposal. 


Extent of the Work 


The task of furnishing this service to the citizens of Phila- 
delphia is perhaps little appreciated. The population to be served 
numbers almost 1,900,000, consisting of over 400,000 families, 


14 


who live in over 352,000 dwellings, each with its individual col- 
lection of household waste. These families live on 1,800 miles 
of streets and roads, 1,600 miles of which are paved, and many 
miles of which are so poorly paved that they are difficult to 
clean and to keep clean. In the rear of properties, there are 210 
miles of so-called alleys, or narrow walkways, three or four feet 
wide, which are difficult to clean, but which, nevertheless, must 
be kept clean. The city is alive with industrial and commercial 
activities which in many sections contribute heavily to the dirt 
in the street. The horse is still used for trucking purposes in 
Philadelphia to a greater extent than in many other large cities. 
Philadelphia has large districts occupied by the foreign-born, and 
in these sections activities upon the streets are pronounced, lit- 
tering of the streets extensive, and cooperation from the house- 
holder almost negligible. In these sections are found curb mar- 
kets which greatly aggravate the difficulty of keeping the streets 
clean. | 

During 1922, the street-cleaning division collected 1,795,557 
cubic yards of ashes and rubbish, weighing nearly a million tons. 
If this refuse were placed on the tract of land covered by City 
Hall (approximately 470 feet by 486.5 feet), it would rise to 
a height of 210 feet, which is greater than the building proper 
and equal to 60 per cent of the height of the clock tower. An 
average of 2% tons of ashes and rubbish are collected from 
each residence during the year, the greater weight of which is 
contributed by the ashes from October to May, During the year 
1922, there were also collected in the city 217,000 tons of garbage, 

2 Nv, 

an average of about 225 pounds to each ho eheld. 


Local Handicaps 

These 1,200,000 tons of household waste are collected under 
the greatest of handicaps.. The city is almost entirely without 
team alleys, and curb collection of ashes and rubbish is the rule. 
Thus the householder must place his receptacles at the curb at 
great personal inconvenience, while the collection costs are also 
increased by the necessity of making separate trips down each 
side of the street. The collection process itself is certainly not 
an adornment to a residential street. Moreover, the household 
refuse is placed where it certainly does not belong, upon the 
public street, to be a source of litter and dirt even under the 


15 


best conditions—that is, when tight receptacles are used and 
loading is done carefully. 

Garbage is collected under even more unfavorable circum- 
stances. The footways called alleys, while not wide enough 
to permit the carrying of ashes and rubbish through them, can 
be used for collecting the smaller quantities of garbage. However, 
numerous and long trips must be made by the collectors, thus 
greatly increasing the cost over what it would be if there were 
team alleys through which the garbage wagons could be driven. 
It is estimated that between 60 and 70 per cent of the garbage 
is collected through these narrow footways, while the remainder 
must be placed at the curbs for collection. 

The problem of keeping 1,600 miles of paved streets clean 
would be much simpler if temperature and climatic conditions 
were more uniform during the 12 months of the year, so that a 
fairly constant working force could be kept occupied. Under 
the climatic conditions that exist, however, and with the cleaning 
methods that are in use, the size of the working force varies 
radically during the several seasons, while the more efficient clean- 
ing can be done only during the warmer months when water can 
be used. There is, of course, a markedly seasonable production 
of ashes which reaches a peak in February and March. Garbage, 
on the other hand, is at low production during the winter months, 
and is produced in greatest quantity during August and Septem- 
ber. The working forces assigned to street cleaning, ash and 
rubbish collection, and garbage collection must, therefore, be 
constantly adjusted to the conditions. Fortunately they can be 
so regulated that a fairly uniform labor force and a somewhat 
less uniform amount of equipment can be employed continuously, 
although the demands of the collection services, which must be 
given first consideration, frequently operate to the disadvantage 
of the street-cleaning work proper. 


Size and Cost of the Street-Cleaning Organization 


Approximately 3,000 persons are ordinarily employed in the 
street-cleaning division. With almost monotonous regularity this 
force goes about its daily work; every morning some 700 wagons 
of all classes, and 50 214-ton trucks start out from the various 
stations for refuse collection, and approximately 450 men assume 
their duties as blockmen or “white wings,” and others assist in 


16 


loading ashes, rubbish, or garbage. Fifty-eight machine-broom 
gangs, ranging from 7 to 12 men in a gang, take up their positions 
behind the cavalcade of ash and rubbish wagons, or start on the 
regular cleaning schedules for the day, and over 100 dirt wagons 
trail the cleaning gangs for the collection of accumulated street 
dirt. If the weather permits, 26 motor flushers work a double 
shift in washing the smoother pavements. In all, over 1,000 pieces 
of major equipment are used in the work, and nearly 2,000 horses 
and mules. 

The public is perhaps better acquainted with the street- 
cleaning and refuse-collection facilities than it 1s with the equip- 
ment for refuse disposal or with the small army of mechanics 
and laborers behind the lines. These branches of the service 
are none the less highly important parts of the organization. 
After the refuse and street dirt has been collected it must be 
disposed of economically and inoffensively. Some kinds of refuse 
can be used, or profitably prepared for use, while other kinds 
have no value whatever and must be gotten rid of in a satisfactory 
manner. 

To keep the services which the public sees operating smoothly, 
draft animals must be housed, fed, and rested; horse-drawn and 
motor equipment must be repaired and reconstructed, and supplies 
must be obtained and distributed. For these purposes shops 
must be maintained and equipped, stables provided, and the multi- 
tude of other activities kept in operation. 

In addition, the general administrative machinery must be 
kept working smoothly. The payrolls must be prepared and 
the men paid; control must be exercised over expenditures; and 
the work of the whole organization must be coordinated and 
planned so that the streets will be cleaned and the refuse collected 
and disposed of as efficiently and economically as possible. Each 
part of the huge machine must function properly ; but this is not 
possible unless there is a hand on the throttle and a watchful 
eye upon the whole machine to see that each cog and shaft per- 
forms its proper service. 

The work of the street-cleaning division costs approximately 
$5,000,000 a year, one of the largest expenditures that is made 
for any municipal service. Because it represents over 8 per 
cent of the city’s annual revenue, or over $2.50 per capita a 
year, it is an important consideration in fixing the tax rate. 


17 


To manage an operating organization of this kind is a task 
of the first magnitude. With its extensive equipment, its huge 
personnel, its large expenditures, and its daily contact with all 
classes of our two million inhabitants, the street-cleaning division 
requires a high order of technical supervision and executive direc- 
tion. 


APPRAISAL 


The question foremost in the mind of the city official or 
the citizen is whether the municipal street-cleaning undertaking 
as a whole has been a success or a failure, whether progress has 
been made, and whether further progress can be expected. For 
the benefit of the busy man or woman who may not have the 
opportunity to read this report in its entirety, the more important 
observations, deductions, and recommendations are brought to- 
gether in this chapter. 


Change to Municipal Operation 


The change from contract to municipal operation was accom- 
plished in a noteworthy manner, reflecting credit upon the higher 
officials of the department of public works, who have devoted 
themselves untiringly and at considerable sacrifice to the task, 
and upon the numerically inadequate group of supervisory and 
staff officials within the division of street cleaning, who carried a 
heavy load with a zeal that is most commendable. Equipment 
had to be acquired and assembled, live stock had to be purchased 
and provision made for its housing and care, shops had to be 
provided, and extensive arrangements made for the disposal of 
refuse. In this process a considerable amount of used equipment 
that was not very useful was purchased from the contractors at 
comparatively low prices. Above all, it was necessary to enlist 
the services of an operating force, many of whom were employed 
by the contractors up to the very day when the change was made, 
and to start this operating force under a new management without 
interruption to the service which the citizen expected. All this 
was done with dispatch and without confusion. 


Standard of Service 


Equally commendable has been the subsequent performance 
of the city. An excellent barometer for testing the results of the 


18 


street-cleaning service is the comment of the press and of the 
citizens in general, particularly as expressed in complaints re- 
ceived. The readings of this barometer have been favorable. 
There has been a keen desire on the part of the department of 
public works to maintain a high standard of service. To that 
end both the equipment and personnel have been increased. 

It has not been possible, however, to overcome all difficul- 
ties nor to perfect the processes in the short period of municipal 
operation. Since the autumn of 1922 until late in 1923, the labor 
shortage was acute. In the eyes of the observer, the street- 
cleaning operations have improved in quality, but have not yet 
reached the expectations of the public. The department has 
realized fully the necessity for fundamental revision and reorgani- 
zation, and made important changes in the entire area of 
West Philadelphia in 1923, but thorough-going studies by the 
engineering staff are proceeding slowly owing to inadequate staff 
personnel. 


Permanent Plant 

Much study has been devoted to the major problem of the 
disposal of ashes, rubbish, street dirt, and garbage. The first 
incinerating plant is now under construction and holds great pos- 
sibilities. It will, however, mark only a beginning in the solution 
of a most vexatious problem. 

The city has spent considerable money in the improvement 
of the generally unsatisfactory stables that were rented, mostly 
from the street-cleaning contractors—some at rather high rentals. 
It is a question, however, whether the city has not gone too far 
in its expenditures on property leased for a comparatively short 
time, and a decision should be made before further sums are 
applied in this manner, A’ new municipal stable of modern con- 
struction and with modern equipment has recently been built near 
Twenty-seventh and Diamond Streets. 


Expense 


While the quantity and quality of the work performed have 
been improved, the expense to the taxpayer has not increased. 
The total expense in 1922 for street cleaning and refuse collection 
and disposal (not including direct payments to contractors for 
snow removal) was $5,140,615.22, which was nearly a million 


19 


dollars less than the expense of combined contract and municipal 
work in 1921, and even less than the estimated expense of $5,160,- 
874.22 for full contract work in 1920. If we allow for the drop 
in price levels from 1920 to 1922, but assume that the contractors 
would have provided the increased facilities (in equipment and 
personnel) used by the city in 1922, we arrive at the conclusion 
that the expense by contract in 1922 would have been at least 
$5,265,000, with no assurance that the work would have been 
entirely satisfactory. 

Under municipal operation, of course, the taxpayer will never 
pay any more than the actual cost of the work, thus eliminating 
the contractor’s profit and the amount charged by the contractor 
for assuming the risks of changing labor and material prices 
and other unforeseen difficulties. 


Reconmmendations 
The major recommendations developed from the analysis in 
the following chapters are: 

1. A detailed study of the whole problem by specialists, 
particularly a study of permanent methods for disposing of 
ashes, rubbish, street dirt, and garbage, and of methods for 
providing such permanent facilities as stables, garages, and 
repair shops for street-cleaning work and refuse collection. 

2. The provision of an adequate sum—estimated at 
$2,500,000—for acquiring these permanent facilities. 

3. Complete consolidation of the street-cleaning division 
with the highway division in the highway bureau, placing the 
execution of street cleaning and refuse collection under the 
direct supervision of the district highway engineers, thus 
bringing to bear upon the conduct of this work the entire 
engineering skill of the bureau of highways. 

4. Provision of more adequate supervisory and staff 
personnel (to include immediately two division’ engineers, 
each in charge of a group of highway districts), a doubling 
of the engineering personnel, and an educational and publicity 
supervisor. 

5. Increase of rates of compensation for labor, and other 
changes in the Soe of employment to improve the 
esprit de corps. 


20 


6. Better uniforming of the street forces, including the 
restoration of white uniforms for blockmen. 

7. A continuous educational and law-enforcement cam- 
paign. ~ 

8. More complete financial records and absolute control 
over plant and equipment. (These subjects are already under 
advisement by the division.) 

9. Budget allowances for the division of street cleaning 
sufficient to maintain plant and equipment and make replace- 
ments. 


OUTLOOK 


It is not likely that any movement which had for its purpose 
a return to the contract system would receive much support. It 
is all too clear to those who are in touch with conditions that 
such a return would be a step backward. The improvement of 
the service would come to an end at once, and the city would be 
helpless to solve the major problem of refuse disposal, which is 
now very pressing. Under the contract system there may have 
been a greater incentive to effort in the operating organization, 
but there was also the tendency to sacrifice results to personal 
gain. There are ways and means to provide incentive in the 
municipal organization. While the work has been new, the city’s 
forces have been stimulated by the desire to produce good results ; 
but unusual effort may be necessary in the future, in view of 
the more or less monotonous regularity of the daily work, to keep 
the organization “on its toes.” 

The municipal organization may become inert, perhaps even 
infected with politics, and there may be demands for a change. 
It should be remembered, if any such occasion arises, that the 
numerous disadvantages that have been found in the past as a 
part of the contract system are rather a high price to pay for 
whatever increased incentive there may be under a contract sys- 
tem operated for profit. It seems highly improbable, if the div- 
ision of street cleaning is to be operated as a part of the engineer- 
ing service, that it will ever fall into utter disrepute; but those 
who are interested in seeing that the street-cleaning and refuse- 
disposal services are efficient, must be watchful lest these services 
be starved by inadequate appropriations, which is the quickest 


21 


and most effective way of bringing them into disfavor. To pro- 
vide satisfactory service, adequate personnel must be employed, 
equipment must be repaired and replaced, and the plant generally 
must be maintained and enlarged. If a criticism can be made, 
it is that the 1923 budget was cut too close to the bone, and the 
continuance of so small an allowance may seriously jeopardize 
the progress that has been made, while further reductions would 
prove disastrous. Most certainly, until the operations of the 
street-cleaning division are scientificaily worked out and placed 
on a permanent basis, the budget should be more flexible and 
more adequate than it was in 1923, thus permitting a thorough 
trial of new methods and schedules. 


CHAPTER II 


ORGANIZATION, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT 


eet 


GENERAL ORGANIZATION 


The highway work of the city is performed by the bureau 
of highways of the department of public works under the super- 
vision of the chief of the bureau. The construction and main- 
tenance of highways is controlled by the division of highways of 
the bureau of highways, headed by a deputy chief under whom 
are six district highway engineers. A’ second deputy chief super- 
vises twelve district street-cleaning superintendents of the division 
of street cleaning who have charge of the cleaning of streets and 
the collection and disposal of ashes, rubbish, and garbage, inde- 
pendently of the district highway engineers. 

In chart I is shown the general organization of the division 
of street cleaning. The deputy chief supervises directly the 
activities of the twelve district superintendents, the superintendent 
of motor equipment, the superintendent of shops, the superin- 
tendent of garbage collection, the general superintendent of horses, 
the superintendent of the garbage-reduction plant, the superin- 
tendent of the incineration plant and the superintendent of ac- 
counts—in all, nineteen different superintendents. On the staff 
of the deputy chief is an assistant engineer who supervises a 
small force of engineers and inspectors engaged in studies of the 
methods used in street cleaning and ash and rubbish collection. 
There is a second assistant engineer who performs the same work 
for the garbage-collection service. The authority of these en- 
gineering assistants is not very clearly defined. In some cases 
they may issue orders directly to district superintendents, in oth- 
ers not. The deputy chief also has an inspector who investigates 
accidents, and another who investigates complaints made to the 
central office and supervises the work of the complaint inspectors 
assigned to each district. 


Districts 


For the purpose of performing the street operations of the 
street-cleaning division, the city area is divided into twelve dis- 


22 


vn 


(RARE i gE 


" 
on 

ee ae 

KOGOg, oo 

ver Wittens aha | 


Laie Spee, 


ots we 


eens le 


ASST ENGR. 


ORGANIZATION OF BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS 


PHILADELPHIA , PA. 


EXISTING ORGANIZATION 1923. 
[DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS | 
| COIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS | 


OIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS 


BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS 


CHIEF BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS 


DEPUTY CHIEF DEPUTY CHIEF 


OF HIGHWAYS | 
| CHIEF CLERK 


| BOOKKEEPERS 
CLERKS 


ASST. ENGINEER 
ASHES, RUBBISH & 
STREET CLEANING 


STENOGRAPHERS 


SUPERVISING ENGINEE ASST. 


PAVEMENT 


OF STREET CLEANING 


ASST. ENGINEER 
GARBAGE 


SUPERINTENDEN 


PERMITS | VIOLATIONS SUPERVISING INSPECTOR WEIGHT INSPECTOR ACCIDENT 
ere MAINTENANCE SUB-SURFACE | INSPECTOR pORAUGHTSMEN REPAIR SHOP INSPECTOR 
STRUCTION TU 
ASPHALT PLANT pichonenitents | 
ASSISTANT | ASST ENGR : a 
eens ENGINEER MAINTENANCE ea oe SUPT. OF SUPT. OF SUPT OF HORSE SUPT. OF SUPT. OF SUPT. GARBAGE | 
OF 3 Sapa EN ACCOUNTS HORSES EQUIP & SUPPLIES MOTOR EQUIPT. CONSTRUCTION REDUCTION PLANT, 
= AF TSME 
FOREMEN CONSTRUCTION ghee! aan 
LABCRERS { LABORERS CLERKS CLERKS CLERKS CLERK ASST. SUPT. 
s CLERKS VETERINARIANS WHEELWRIGHTS MECHANICS CARPENTERS MECHANICS 
STENOGRAPHERS ARNESSMAKER: BLACKSMITHS CHAUFFEURS BRICKLAVERS FIREMEN 
SanioR gle 3 STOREKEEPERS FOREMEN ELECTRICIANS SORE 


HORSESHOERS LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS 


LABORERS 


PUBLIC 
INFORMATION 
@ PUBLICITY 


INVESTIGATION 
OF COMPLAINTS 


EDUCATION 


LAW 
ENFORCEMENT 


DIRECTOR OF 
PUBLICITY 


INSPECTORS 
SPECIAL 


OFFICERS 
CLERKS 


HIGHWAY 

DISTRICT 
CONSTRUCTION 
@& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


OISTRICT ENGR 


ASST. ENGINGERS 
INSPECTORS 


CLERKS 
FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


DISTRICT 


CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


DIST ENGINEER 
ASST. DIST. ENGR 


PAVEMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 


+ MAINTENANCE! 


ASST. ENGINEERS 
INSPECTORS 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT. OF 
STREET CLEAN 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT. OF 
STREET CLEAN 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


HIGHWAY 
DISTRICT 
CONSTRUCTION 


f& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE 


DIVISION ENGINEER 


HIGHWAY HIGHWAY HIGHWAY HIGHWAY | STREET CLEAN STREET CLEAN, STREET CLEAN 
DISTRICT OISTRICT DISTRICT DISTRICT OISTRICT |_DISTRICT DISTRICT 


TIMEKEEOERS 
INSPECTORS 


TIMEKEEDERS TIMEMEEPERS 


CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION FOREMEN Seen oeS, INSEECTORS INSPECTORS 
& MAINTENANC @ MAINTENANC 2 MAINTENANCE ORIVERS DRIVERS DRIVERS Serene 
OF PAVEMENTS OF PAVEMENTS 107 PAVEMENTS OF PAVEMENTS | LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS 


OISTRICT ENGR DISTRICT ENGR DISTRICT ENGR DISTRICT ENGR lOISTRICT ENGQ} 
ASST. ENGINEERS ASST ENGINEERS ASST. ENGINEERS ASST ENGINEERS ASST. ENGINEERS STREET CLEAN ISTREET CLEAN TREET CLEAN STREET CLEAN 
INSPECTORS INSPECTORS INSPECTORS INSPECTORS INSPECTORS DISTRICT DISTRICT DISTRIC DISTRICT 
| ccerKs | Pate Sy aces nae pees, TINSPECTORS, 
FOREMEN FOREMEN FOREMEN | FOREMEN | FOREMEN FOREMEN FOREMEN FOREMEN 
e : ORIVERS ORIVERS ORIVERS ORIVWERS 
LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS ] LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS LABORERS 


RECOMMENDED ORGANIZATION 


DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS 


| BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS 
[HEF ENGINEER = 


STREET CLEAN, 
DISTRICT 


TIMER 


PERS 


OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING & COLLECTION 


OF WASTES 


| DISTRICT 


CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


DIST. ENGINEER 
ASST DIST ENGR. 


PAVEMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 
j@ MAINTE NANCE 


ASST ENGINEERS 
INSPECTORS 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT. OF 
STREET CLEAN. 
& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT OF 
STREET CLEAN. 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


CENTRAL ENGINEERING OFFICE 


DEPUTY OEPUTY 
| HIGHWAY ENGINEER |STREET CLEANING ENGR 


PAVEMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 
&@ MAINTENANCE 


ASST ENGR PLANT AND 


EQUIPMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
j OF PLANT 
ASSIGNMENT, 
INSPECTION ANO 
REPAIR OF 
EQUIPMENT 


ENGINEER OF 
PLANT # EQUIPMENT] 


1 PLANNING 


DREDARATION OF 
SPECIFICATIONS, 
PLANS & CONTRACTS 


CHIEF DRAFTSMAN 
ORASTSMEN 


DISTRICT 


DISTRICT | 


CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


STREET CLEANING 
AND REFUSE 


HEADQUARTERS 
ENGINEER OF 
CONSTRUCTION 


COLLECTION 


PLANNING 
ENGINEER 
ASST ENGINEERS 


OIST. ENGINEER 
ASST DIST. ENGR 


DIST. ENGINEER 
ASST. DIST ENGR. 


BRIDGE 
AND SEWER 
PAVEMENT | MAINTENANCE MATERIALS REFUSE INSPECTORS Pestnt cated 
CONSTRUCTION TESTING DISPOSAL CLERKS A MAINTENANC 


& MAINTENANC 


INCINERATION 


ENGINES OF REFUSE 


Of BRIOGES 
AND SEWERS 


[ENGR oF Tests | OF TESTS 


ASST. ENGINEERS 
INSPECTORS 


ASST ENGINEERS 
INSPECTORS 
FOREMEN ASST. ENGINEERS 
LABORERS 
. FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT OF 
STREET CLEAN. 
& REFUSE 


IGARBASE REDUCTION 
DUMP DISPOSAL 


CHEMIST 
ILASORATORY ASSTS 


SUPT OF 
EQUIPMENT 
SUPERVISOR SHOPS 
REFUSE DISPOSAL 


CLERKS 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


INSPECTORS 


SUPT OF 
JSTREET CLEAN 


SUPT. OF 
PERMITS, LIVESTOCK 
SUB-SURFACE 
STRUCTURES &@ 
ENCROACHMENTS 


SUPT OF 
GARBAGE REOUCTIO 


& REFUSE 


ASPHALT PLANTS 


COLLECTION COLLECTION 
FOREMEN SUPT. OF ¥ FOREMEN 
LABORERS ASPHALT PLANTS 4 $ SUPT OF LABORERS 

INCINERATION 
PLANT 
SUPT. OF 
abit TREET CLEAN 
& REFUSE 

COLLECTION Bane k COLLECTION 
FOREMEN DUMDING WHARVES LasORERG 
LABORERS 


DIVISION 


\ CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE 


OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING & COLLECTION 


OF WASTES 


DIVISION ENGINEER 


CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 
OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


DIST. ENGINEER 
ASST. DIST. ENGR 


PAVEMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 
@ MAINTENANC 


ASST. ENGINEER, 
INSPECTORS 
CLERKS 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT. OF 
STREET CLEAN 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT OF 
TREET CLEAN 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


STREET CLEAN 
DISTRICT 


TIME KEEPERS 
INSPECTORS 
FOREMEN 

ORIVER 

LABORE: 


STREET CLEAN. 
OISTRICT 


TIMEMCEPERS 

INSPECTORS 
FOREMEN 
ORIVERS 

LABORERS 


STREET CLEAN 
OISTRICT 
TIMEKEEPERS 
INSPECTORS 
FOREMEN 


DRIVERS 
LAZORERS 


STREET CLEAN 
DISTRICT 


TIMEKEEDERS 
INSPECTORS 


FOREMEN 
Oa2@ivees 
LABORERS 


DISTRICT 


CONSTRUCTION 
@ MAINTENANCE 


} OF PAVEMENTS 


STREET CLEANING 
& COLLECTION 
OF WASTES 


DIST. ENGINEER 
ASST. DIST. ENGR 


PAVEMENT 
CONSTRUCTION 
& MAINTENANCE 


ASST. ENGINEERS} 
INSPECTORS 


CLERKS 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


SUPT. OF 
STREET CLEAN 


@ REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


TREET CLEAN 


& REFUSE 
COLLECTION 


FOREMEN 
LABORERS 


PURCHASING 
CLERICAL 


STENOGRAPHIC 
BOOKKEEPING & 
ACCOUNTING 


OFFICE 
OIRECTOR 


CHIEF 
ACCOUNTANT 
BOOKKEEPERS 


CLERKS 


REPORT BY 


BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 
OF PHILADELPHIA, 


a3 


tricts of various sizes. These districts are defined by more or 
less natural boundaries which do not necessarily coincide with 
the boundaries of wards or other political subdivisions. Exten- 
sive changes were made in the district boundaries in 1921 when 
municipal work was introduced in two districts, and other changes 
were made in 1922 and 1923. Additional modifications may be 
expected in the next few years as comprehensive studies are com- 
pleted of the street operation and of the amount of work to be 
performed. It is necessary to balance the mileage of streets 
to be cleaned and the quantity of refuse to be collected against 
the facilities available, such as stables and points of refuse dis- 
posal. The boundaries of street-cleaning districts will be subject 
to change until stable, shop, and refuse-disposal facilities have 
been permanently located. 


TABLE II-1 


POPULATION OF STREET-CLEANING DISTRICTS OF 1922 
(1920 Census Population Plus 4 Per Cent) 


Neeser aiacempitan A. tN. of. Market) vo 0. 0. cies k ve te ae cee 185,700 
¢ be : TP oA ee ek ees 188,900 
Baers imcerpnia. A CNV. Of Broad)" 4.5 00. eile deo eee 195,600 
. " Eng Rd A SARS BUDS 2 cle a 249,500 
NI oo, REP ooh ss oc soe Se Gol BESS vty Oa wo 258,700 
ee aae me <8 Ss Pomme ho, SS Nacsa ao hs de hw g oalere evens 181,500) 
ONS sa Ue FP racemes SSP OAT pam ta aeds 206,500 
NR I i CNG ok nw bg bles woe oOo ade ¢ ey alee 143,200 
TEE o's 5 6 arg ie « pines ac RMON CR BN ad ee ee a 37,000 
es se ene rd oR ee ties eek SRE PE Ue hey 103,000 
RE ICI io, sald veuie gd waa unis Rath a die WR ee ein 107,900 
EM OR. 55's aeons Doace SU BGh a Rae ates 42,500 
I ng ca. osc ghvietr es BE ame eet Gy eee oie th heute weemiee mes 1,900,000 


Chart II shows the street-cleaning districts as established in 
1922 and also the two important changes in boundaries effective 
January 1, 1923. Table II-1 shows the populations in the various 
districts in 1922. The very large area of South Philadelphia 
below Chestnut Street has been divided into east and west dis- 
tricts separated by Broad Street. West Philadelphia, instead of 
being divided into north and south districts by Market Street, is 
now divided into east and west districts by a most irregular 
boundary line. While at first glance such a boundary line may 
appear incorrect, it was fixed as a result of an intensive study 


24 
CHART II 


CITY OF PHILADELPHIA 


STREET CLEANING PLANT. 
SHOWING DISTRICTS, STABLES, GARAGES 
AND OTHER FACILITIES. 


SCALE IN FEET 


F, FARIS Se, 


: BP - LEGEND- 


STABLES STABLE BpeLAY STA. 
MopeL FARM © Gansace REDUCTION 
GARAGE Bnepaing @ INCINERATOR 
WAGON REPAIAS 9% DUMPS 

Garpace WuarrF  @ Boat Dump 

AsH WuHarr 


@orppaaGa 


~LOCATIONS~ 


4 55™& Summer Sts. {2 1204 E.Montcomery 

2 38™= Marker ~ 13.47% & WromING Ave. 

3 30™*+SeGaroen « 44 Frankroro & GLENwooo 

4 25™-Moore « 15 State Ro. & Devereaux 

5 43™ «SHunk «© 46 Hawes & MAGNOLIA 

6 3300 S. Broan St 17 Wawut Lac MitcHete 

7 1820 Race St. 18 Penrose Ferry Roap 

8.1245 Cotreee. Av. 419 Green St. Witare 
€9 2713 Frercuer St. 2049 Scrvyekice Ay, 
#10 2610 CattowHnn €21G. St & Ramona 

{i 257 & Sensrey Av. €22 GLenwooo & Diamono 


€ New facilities net yet in openation June ist .4923) 
NOTE ==——Indicates change in District Lines in 1923. # Facilities temporarily m use. 


25 


of the conditions in West Philadelphia. This method of sub- 
division creates no difficulties for citizens, because they need not 
be familiar with the boundaries of the district in which they 
reside. Their contact is directly with the central office at City 
Hall. Furthermore, it is advisable for the best interests of the 
service to disregard division and ward lines in laying out street- 
cleaning districts. 


District Organization 

The work in each district is under the direct supervision of 
a district superintendent. Upon him depends to a marked degree 
the success attained. He has his office at the stable from which 
the activities in his district radiate, and keeps in touch with the 
working force by use of a motor car. The execution of the work 
is entrusted to foremen and sub-foremen. In each district there 
are foremen, in charge, respectively, of street-cleaning work 
proper, of ash and rubbish collection, of garbage collection, of 
dumps, and of stables. Sub-foremen are placed in charge of the 
subdivisions of these activities, such as gangs operating on the 
different collection routes. There is also the necessary quota of 
truck drivers, ash-, rubbish-, and dirt-wagon drivers, garbage- 
wagon drivers, machine-broom and sprinkler-wagon drivers, col- 
lection helpers, dumpmen, gangmen, inlet men, blockmen or 
“white wings,’ stablemen, blacksmiths, blacksmith’s helpers, and 
a few men engaged in making minor repairs to equipment. 

Each district office employs a timekeeper and a clerk, who 
keep the records from which the payroll is prepared, make out 
reports, and do the clerical work incidental to appointments, dis- 
charges, and approval of bills. There is also an inspector who 
investigates complaints of derelictions in service or violations of 
ordinances. The timekeeper, clerk, and inspector are, in reality, 
part of the general administrative force operating under the super- 
intendent of accounts, at City Hall, although they are under the 
disciplinary control of the district superintendent. At present, 
the district superintendents are not provided with an adequate 
force of foremen and sub-foremen, particularly sub-foremen, If 
work by blockmen is to be increased, there must be more adequate 
supervision by sub-foremen, or the work will be ineffective and 
unsatisfactory. Effective supervision can be more readily exer- 
cised if the supervisory forces are provided with sufficient trans- 


26 


portation. Motor cars are now furnished to a number of the 
principal supervisory and staff officers, and each district super- 
intendent has a motor car without driver. Some foremen and 
sub-foremen are provided with horses and buggies, but others 
have none. To obtain the best results, the foremen of major 
operations should be provided with motor cars or motorcycles, 
and other foremen and possibly some sub-foremen with bicycles. 


AUXILIARY SERVICES 


To prevent interruption of the street operations, it is neces- 
sary to maintain the equipment in good repair. Small forces are 
occupied in each district with minor repairs, but the more impor- 
tant work is done in regularly equipped shops. 


Maintenance of Motor Equipment 

Major repairs are made and motor equipment is reconstructed 
in two shops, one at Thirtieth and Callowhill Streets, the other at 
3300 South Broad Street. This service is in charge of the super- 
intendent of motor equipment, who, with the necessary comple- 
ment of clerks, has offices at the former shop. The city has 
provided fairly complete equipment for motor repairs and carries 
on its payroll the motor mechanics and other labor necessary for 
this work. 

The superintendent of motor vehicles is responsible for the 
operation of all motor equipment, which is assigned to the several 
districts as needed. Records are kept of the use of each piece 
of motor equipment and of the repairs and supplies necessary. 
The motor equipment is most important, and, in the interests 
of economical street operation, it is essential that it be kept in 
constant use. The records which are kept of motor-vehicle use 
should prove of inestimable value as guidance when new equip- 
ment is bought or supplies purchased. 


Maintenance of Horse-Drawn Equipment 

Shops for the repair and rebuilding of horse-drawn equip- 
ment are maintained in conjunction with the motor shops and 
are in charge of the superintendent of horse equipment and sup- 
plies. These shops are fully equipped to make major repairs, 
and even to manufacture new equipment. During 1922, about 
fifty new ash wagons were made. The city can be sure of the 


27 


best material and good workmanship in equipment which it makes 
in its own shops; but it is doubtful whether these shops can com- 
pete in price with larger commercial wagon shops. This question, 
which time did not permit us to analyze in detail, should be 
studied fully in order that the city may adopt the most satisfac- 
tory method. Even if the city does not construct new wagons, 
there will always be sufficient reconstruction and major repair 
work to make wagon shops essential; and such facilities, of course, 
make it possible to experiment with new designs. 

Garbage wagons are repaired and painted at a shop at 
Twenty-fifth Street and Sedgley Avenue under the direction of 
a wheelwright foreman. This shop, however, does not have suf- 
ficient equipment and personnel to make all woodwork repairs 
while the iron bodies are being overhauled. The wagons, there- 
fore, are transferred to the wagon shops for part of the repair 
work, 


Shops 

All of the property used as shops for the repair of horse- 
drawn and motor-drawn equipment is leased, except the garbage- 
wagon shop at Twenty-fifth Street and Sedgley Avenue. The 
property at Thirtieth and Callowhill Streets is owned by the 
Schuylkill Navigation Company, and is leased by the city from 
year to year at an annual rental of $10,000. It is improbable 
that the present owner would willingly sell the property, but it 
may be condemned by the city for park purposes, in which event 
the shops located there must be moved. The property at 3300 
South Broad Street is held under a five-year lease at an annual 
rental of $10,000. The buildings are of little value and it is 
doubtful whether the location is desirable as a permanent one for 
shops. 

The irregularly shaped piece of ground at the corner of 
Twenty-fifth Street and Sedgley Avenue was acquired with the 
purchase of the garbage-reduction plant. A dilapidated brick 
building, only partially roofed over, which had been used for 
some years as a storage place and repair shop for garbage wagons, 
stands on this property. The repair equipment is not very com- 
plete; but owing to the fact that a modern shop may be con- 
structed at this location, only temporary improvements have been 
made, or are proposed for the present. This shop is valued at 
$10,000 on the books of the street-cleaning division. The prob- 


28 


lem of providing permanent and adequate shops, either independ- 
ently of or in conjunction with other city bureaus, must be given 
early attention by the city. 


Care of Horses 


A superintendent of live stock is responsible for the housing, 
feeding, resting, and handling of the animals. Daily inspections 
are made by veterinarians who are employed on a contract basis 
and are paid at a rate per horse per year. The veterinarians are 
under the direction of a head veterinarian who has quarters at 
the city’s model farm. Medicines are furnished by the city. At 
the model farm there is a fully equipped horse hospital, while 
at the several stables some special arrangements are provided for 
sick horses. 

At each stable there are facilities for horseshoeing and for 
the repair of harness. Early in 1924, the chief of the bureau of 
highways announced that the division of street cleaning could 
not shoe its horses as economically as it could have them shod by 
contract. Subsequently a contract was let for this work. If the 
city requires work of quality equal to or better than its own work, 
it is surprising and regrettable that the contractor, who must make 
a profit, can do it more cheaply. 

The superintendent of live stock has an office in the rented 
building at 1120 Race Street, and has a clerical force to maintain 
the animal-service records. 


Storehouse and Supply Service 


At Twenty-fifth and Master Streets, a discarded city bath- 
house has been converted into a storehouse for supplies and ma- 
terials used in the street-cleaning operations, and also in the 
highway-repair work. A storekeeper is in charge, and several 
laborers are employed in receiving and issuing materials. Sup- 
plies are delivered every day to the various stables and other 
places, which makes it unnecessary for these units to maintain 
large individual stocks of the supplies. The supply service is 
directed by the superintendent of horse equipment and supplies. 


Clerical and Accounting Service 

A superintendent of accounts located in the central offices at 
City Hall is responsible for the conduct of the clerical and ac- 
counting work that is performed there, and also supervises the 


29 


work of the timekeepers and clerks who are assigned to the 
district offices. The work at the central office includes the usual 
typing and stenographic service, the clerical routine incidental to 
the employment and discharge of laborers, the receiving of com- 
plaints, and the more detailed and important work of bookkeep- 
ing and cost accounting. 


PLANT AND EQUIPMENT 
Plant Acquired 


The provision of the necessary plant and equipment has been 
a problem of the first magnitude. To a considerable degree, the 
city depended upon the acquisition and development of such 
facilities as were already used by the contractors. This, of course, 
was a logical step; but, unfortunately, stables and certain other 
plant facilities were leased instead of purchased. To the extent 
that the contractor’s equipment was usable, it was to the best 
interests of all concerned that the city should acquire it, even 
though the city was under no obligation to do so. 

After the decision had been made to initiate municipal work 
in the central district of Philadelphia on January 1, 1921, the 
city council appropriated the sum of $400,000 for the purchase 
and erection of plant, buildings, ground, and equipment. The 
city had previously requested bids for the furnishing of horses 
and used equipment, and had received bids from practically all 
the contractors. Bids had also been obtained on new equipment, 
and, after consideration of the two groups of bids, sufficient 
equipment was purchased to handle the limited municipal work 
begun in 1921. 

At the election held on November 2, 1920, the electors ap- 
proved the creation of a loan or loans not exceeding $33,000,000, 
of which sum $1,000,000 was designated for the acquisition of 
plant for the division of street cleaning. Of this latter amount, 
$500,000 was used in accordance with an ordinance of February 
&, 1921, to purchase the garbage-reduction plant, garbage wagons, 
and the garbage-wagon repair shop. Appropriations have been 
made from the remaining $500,000 for the erection of an inciner- 
ating plant and a stable. These projects will entirely exhaust the 
loan authorization. 

On August 10, 1921, the city council appropriated from the 
general fund (as temporarily increased by an emergency loan) 


30 


TABLE II-2 


RecorD OF EQUIPMENT PURCHASED DuRING PERIop From OcTosER, 1920, 
TO DECEMBER, 1922, INCLUSIVE 


New and used New equipment Used equipment 
Kinds of equipment es | 
No. Cost No. Cost No. Cost 
Total 2295 |$891,411.18| 1439 |$746,213.18| 856 $145,198.00 
Flushers 23 | 177,113.10 23) 377,113, 10 - ve 
Trucks, 5-ton 33 | 130,304.39 22 | 108,394.39 II’ | 22,000.00 
Trucks, 2'%-ton 52 | 174,001.85 41 | 152,056.85 II” | 21,945.00 
Tractors, 5-ton I 3,750.00 I 3,750.00 a 
Tractors, 10-ton 2 12,894.30 2 12,894.30 
Motor sweepers Zz 14,171.04 2 14,171.04 
Passenger automo- 
biles 19 19,835.00 19 19,835.00 et Ms 
Truck bodies, 5-ton 5 750.00 Bs ne 5 750.00 
Snow loaders 2 10,993.00 2 10,993.00 oe we 
Snow plows 35 0,530.00 a5 9,530.00 
Truck trailer I 1,775.00 I 1,775.00 aig a 
Wagons, wood 699 | 196,424.50} 336°] 144,722.50} 363 51,702.00 
Wagons, iron 114 | 41,820.00 8a | 36,600.00 34 5,220.00 
Wagons, iron, gar- 
bage 300 | 30,000.00 e ey 1as 00 30,000.00 
Wagons, drop bot- 
tom 10 1,000.00 uy we 10 1,000.00 
Wagons, sprinkling] 84 | 25,740.00 50 | 22,015.00 34 3,725.00 
Machine brooms 159 | 32,815.00 75 23,975.00 84 8,840.00 
Blockmen’s carts 754 8,404.00| 750 8,388.00 4 16.00 


*Eleven 5-ton used trucks bought in 1920 for $22,000 traded in at 
an exchange value of $13,200 on the purchase of eleven 5-ton new 
trucks for $58,129.77 in 1921. 

4Eleven of these trucks bought in 1920 for $21,945; in 1921, two 
traded in at an exchange value of $3,000 on the purchase of forty 
new trucks for $151,150. 

*Capacity without sideboards, generally 334 cu. yds.; with side- 
boards approximately 5 cu. yds. 


the sum of $1,250,000, comprising varying amounts earmarked 
for definite kinds of equipment, improvements to leased property, 
and consulting services. The department of public works was 
given somewhat broader use of this money by an ordinance of 
November 28, 1921. In the foilowing year council made certain 
transfers between items. These transfers were made to meet 
readjustments in the plans for purchasing equipment and to pro- 
vide additional money for improvements to stables. At the close 
of 1922, this appropriation was practically exhausted, and the 
division of street cleaning was left dependent upon a relatively 
small appropriation for replacement of equipment. 


a 
STREET EQUIPMENT 


Table II-2 shows the quantity and purchase price of new 
and used equipment of the several kinds acquired from October, 
1920, to December 31, 1922. Including major and minor items, 
2,282 pieces of equipment were purchased at a cost of $891,411.18. 
It is apparent from an examination of this table that although a 
rather large quantity of used equipment was purchased, new 
equipment actually predominated. Practically all the motor ve- 
hicles now in use were new when purchased. The city did not 
buy any used motor flushers, and while 11 used five-ton trucks 
were acquired in 1920, they were later traded in for new trucks. 
Approximately one-half of the machine brooms and sprinkling 
wagons, and two-thirds of the iron-body wagons used in the col- 
lection of street dirt, were new when purchased. 

More than 50 per cent of the wooden wagons purchased for 
the collection of ashes and rubbish had been used by the con- 
tractors, They were bought at an average price under $150, 
which is a little more than one-third of the average price of over 
$400 for new wagons. Many of the old wagons have already 
been discarded, or have been completely rebuilt. Some were never 
used by the city. In fact, the total number of new ash and rub- 
bish wagons, machine brooms, and sprinkling wagons on hand 
has been almost sufficient to meet all needs, so that the city has 
not depended to any appreciable extent on the used equipment. 
The money paid for the old wagons may be regarded as part of 
the cost of changing from one system of street cleaning to an- 
other. 

But little equipment has been rented by the city. The use of 
12 five-ton trucks was contracted for in the winter of 1922- 
1923 for ash and rubbish collection in West Philadelphia, to 
carry out the revised schedules which had been prepared after 
detailed study. Each of these trucks cost $18.08 a day with 
driver, while the total expenditure for this purpose did not quite 
equal the maximum of $20,000 appropriated by council. Addi- 
tional trucks are badly needed at present, particularly in view of 
the inavailability of dumps within convenient distance. 

The 300 garbage wagons included in the purchase of the 
garbage-reduction plant, and valued by the bureau of highways 
at $40,000, have undergone extensive repairs, and with occasional 


32 


help from trucks have so far met the needs of the garbage- 
collection service. However, the number of wagons in reserve 
at certain times has hardly constituted a safe margin. After 23 
of the total number were discarded as unfit for use, there have 
been available 277 wagons, 259 of which are of the larger steel- 
body type having a capacity of 3,100 pounds each, or from 3% 
to 344 cubic yards. They are designated as the 134-ton type. 
The remaining 18 wagons have smaller steel bodies, with a cap- 
acity of 2,500 pounds each, or about 2% cubic yards. They are 
designated as the one-ton type. As many of these wagons have 
been in service from 15 to 27 years and the wheel boxes and 
axles are of varying sizes, it is difficult to interchange wheels in 
case of mishap. Undoubtedly the design can be improved as 
replacements are made. The steel bodies are covered with hinged 
iron lids which are subject to unusual wear and tear, and which 
rattle objectionably. In the immediate future, at least 50 addi- 
tional garbage wagons will be required for replacements, for the 
growth of the service with the growth of the city, and for the 
elimination of the unsatisfactory private-collection system. At 
least $300,000 is needed for this equipment and for equipment 
required in street cleaning and ash and rubbish collection. 


LIvE STocK 


The city has purchased 1,911 head of live stock, comprising 
1,900 horses? and 11 mules, at a cost of $284,859. Of this 
total number, 315 were acquired in the fall of 1920 from two of 
the largest street-cleaning contractors, and were seasoned horses 
trained in street-cleaning work. The price per head ranged from 
$185 to $200. In preparation for city-wide municipal operation 
in 1922, the city purchased 1,600 additional head of live stock, about 
half of which were accepted, after examination for soundness 
and fitness, from the street-cleaning contractors at prices ranging 
from $99 to $169. The remainder were untrained horses pur- 
chased by contract at prices ranging from $137.50 to $169, but 


*By June 16, 1923, the number of horses had been reduced, through 
natural losses or by transfer of useless animals, to 1,727, of which 1,378 
were working, 181 were fit but idle, and 168 were sick or being rested at 
the model farm. 


33 


with few over $144. The selection of these horses had to be 
done with great care. Skill was necessary, too, in handling the 
untrained horses until they became accustomed to work on city 
streets. 

With the purchase of the 1,600 additional head of live stock 
in 1921, the municipal government became the largest single owner 
and user of horses in the city. In this gasoline age, when horses 
have been replaced to so large an extent by motors, the purchase 
of so many horses by the city may doubtless appear inadvisable. 
However, for street work where frequent stopping and starting is 
necessary, the horse-drawn vehicle is superior in many ways to 
the gasoline-motor vehicle, and possibly in some ways to the 
electric-motor vehicle. The horse, moreover, is thoroughly reli- 
able, and there is less interruption to horse-drawn service than 
to motor service. In what proportions the city should make use 


of these two types of equipment, however, is a question requiring 
detailed study. 


Stables 


Good stables are essential to maintaining live stock in proper 
working condition, and it is also important that the animals be 
housed in a way that will not be objectionable to the neighborhood 
where stables are located. The municipal government, as the 
largest single operator of horse-drawn equipment within the city, 
should set the highest standard of stable construction and opera- 
tion. Conditions were found to be far from satisfactory in a 
large number of the stables that were leased, and an effort has 
been made to correct these conditions to the extent that money 
was available. 

On chart II are shown the locations of the various stables 
in use, and the street-cleaning districts which they serve. Prac- 
tically all these properties have been rented for a term not ex- 
ceeding five years, under leases which are terminable within that 
period. The leases usually provide for an automatic increase in 
rent equal to the increase, if any, in the amount of city taxes 
paid by the owner. Such improvements as may be made by the 
city accrue to the owner on the termination of the lease. The 
annual rentals and other terms of the contracts are indicated in 
table II-3. Agreements of purchase are not included. 


Descrip- 


Location : 
tion 


13th and Stable 
Shunk Sts. 

Shand 
transfer 
station 
Stable 


I120 Race 
Street 


2713 Flet- 
cher Street 


1204 Mont- | Stable 
gomery Ave. 
Ath St. and 
Wyoming 
Avenue 
Haines and 
Magnolia 
Streets 

25th and 
Moore Sts. 
Shur’s Lane 
& Mitchell 
Street 


6“ 


55th & Sum- 
mer Sts. 


1245 W. Col- 
lege Ave. 


3300 South | Wagon 
Broad St. jand motor 
sho 


Dp 
2610 Callow-|Stable & 


hill Street |dumping 
wharf 

Montgom- Stable 

ery Ave. & 

Carlisle St. 

30th and Wagon & 


Sp. Garden |motor 


Streets shop 
(Callowhill) 
38th & Mar- | Stable 


ket Streets 


Frankford &| Stable 
Glenwood 

Avenues 

State Road &| Stable 
Devereaux 

Street 


34 


Other conditions 


11/10/21| 5 yrs|/Tax increase over 


1921 to be re- 
imbursed by city. 
E. H. Vare Co. re- 
tains office on 
second floor. 
Tax increase over 
192I to be reim- 
bursed by city. 


Tax increases over 
1921 and water 
charges to be re- 
imbursed by city. 

Tax increases over 
1921 and water 
charges to be re- 
imbursed by city. 

Tax increases over 
1921 to be reim- 
bursed by city. 

Tax increases over 
192I to be reim- 
bursed by city. 


Lease terminated 


6/30/22 


. |Tax increases over 


192I and water 
charges to be re- 
imbursed by city. 
Tax increases over 
1921 and water 
charges to be re- 
imbursed by city. 
Tax increases over 
1921 to be reim- 
bursed by city. 
Tax increases. over 
I92I and water 
charges to be re- 
imbursed by city. 


TABLE II-3 
REAL EsTATE RENTED AND CONDITIONS OF RENTAL 
creak ih Date of Date of | Term 
rental | Possession} ordinance |of lease 
$10,000; 1/1/22 
15,000] 1/1/22 | 11/10/21] 5 “ 
1,200, 1/1/22 | 11/10/21] 5:: “ 
7200) 1/1/22 |11/10/21;5 “ 
4 000) 1/1/2214 aI7 10/215 
6,000] 1/1/22 | 11/10/21; 5“ 
4,500} °1/1/21 |) 2/11/2ig pee 
goa| 1/1/22 | 6/8/2275 e.~ 
6,600; 1/1/22 | 6/8/22 }5 “ 
3.600| 1/1/21} 4/6/2145 a 
10,000] 1/1/22 | 11/10/21} 5“ 
2.6004 81/1/2141 1/22/21 Bae 
300 1/1/22 |11/28/21 jmonth 
per to 
mo. | month 
7,750 | 6/15/21 | 7/6/21 |§ yrs 
6,600 | 9/15/21 |11/10/2I |5 * 
6,000 | 11/1/21 | 6/8/22 {5 “ 
1,500 |12/15/21 | 6/8/22 |5 “ 
\$03,350 


Total 


35 


Improvemenis to Leased Property 


Up to the close of 1922, about $200,000 was expended from 
the appropriations to the division of street cleaning for improve- 
ments made on the leased properties, and an additional $40,000 
was used during the first five months of 1923. City forces paid 
out of appropriations other than those of the division of street 
cleaning also performed about $15,000 worth of work, consisting 
principally of paving in the yards of stables. The largest expend- 
iture on any one property, about $70,000, was made at Thirty- 
eighth and Market Streets, where a brick stable was erected after 
the William Penn Hotel, an old landmark, had been torn down. 
The most modern equipment for the care of work horses was 
installed in this stable. Extensive improvements were also made 
in the stables at Fifty-fifth and Summer Streets and at Thirteenth 
and Shunk Streets, while at Frankford and Glenwood Avenues 
about $25,000 was used to convert an old garage into a stable. 
The emphasis throughout has been placed upon adequate light, 
ventilation, and drainage. To attain the last, concrete runways 
were constructed which permit the extensive use of water for 
cleansing. While it was deemed advisable to use plank flooring 
in the stalls, very tight construction was adopted. Stables of this 
general construction can be operated without offense to the most 
fastidious and are practically rat-proof. The manure is removed 
daily to obviate storage on the premises and to prevent fly- 
breeding. 

Unfortunately, lack of time and funds has made it impos- 
sible to provide permanent stables of modern construction for the 
entire service. This work is perhaps not more than half com- 
pleted. Such an excellent building as the one at Thirty-eighth 
and Market Streets is offset by the grossly unsatisfactory stables 
at 1245 College Avenue and at Haines and Magnolia Streets. Ad- 
ditional funds should be provided to enable the street-cleaning 
division to hasten the completion of its program of stable con- 
struction, 

Even more urgent, however, is the question whether the city 
should lease or own its stables. It may well be questioned whether 
the city has not gone too far in making improvements on private 
property which is held under relatively short leases. Is this 
property to be leased permanently or is it eventually to be ac- 


36 


quired by the city? Will not the city pay double for the im- 
provements if the property is finally purchased? Will the use of 
draft animals increase or decrease in the future? These are 
pertinent questions which should be answered as soon as possible. 
This can be done most satisfactorily by referring them, with other 
questions such as those relating to permanent methods for refuse 
disposal, to. competent consultants employed to make a study and 
report upon the whole work. 


Purchase of Leased Property 


We have been advised that the leased properties now used 
. by the city which it can and will want to purchase may be bought 
for approximately $750,000. This represents an outlay of ap- 
proximately $500 per horse capacity. The total yearly rental of 
‘these properties is $73,100 and their assessed valuation for the 
year 1922 was about $400,000. Approximately $250,000 has 
already been expended by the city for improvements. While it 
appears that the municipal government should have acquired in 
the beginning those properties which it might advantageously own, 
or should have leased them subject to purchase at an agreed 
price, it is not yet too late to conclude these arrangements. Per- 
haps, however, the city is depending on the right of eminent do- 
main and on its ability to fix fair prices for purchase by the usual 
methods of condemnation of property. 


The Model Farm 


At what is known as the “Model Farm” the city possesses 
rather unique facilities for the care of animals. Some years ago 
the city acquired the old Cannon Ball property in the extreme 
southwestern section of the city to be used ultimately as a site 
for sewage-treatment works. One of the buildings on the farm 
has been remodeled into a veterinary hospital and equipped with 
facilities pronounced by authorities to be of the very best. Horses 
which require conditioning and medical attention are taken to 
the model farm, where extensive pasturage is available. This 
farm is also used by the department of public safety for fire and 
police horses. The farm itself is managed, by the bureau of 
city property, which raises crops and engages in other farming 
activities. Some of the forage produced is given to the street- 
cleaning division for use at the district stables. 


OF 


City Stable at Glenwood Avenue and Diamond Street 


The first city-built stable for the street-cleaning division has 
been completed. It is located upon land which originally belonged 
to the Glenwood Cemetery plot but was never used for cemetery 
purposes. The land was secured by the city through condemna- 
tion. The stable is an L-shaped, brick building, one story in 
height, with two feed-storage rooms in a second story over about 
one-third of the area of each L. There are also two detached 
brick buildings, one for the blacksmith shop, the other for an 
office. The construction is of the most modern type, especially 
designed to be rat-proof and to have adequate drainage. Stalls 
are of tight timber construction. The buildings accommodate 
230 horses, and cost, with equipment, about $125,000, which is 
approximately $500 per horse. According to report, this is about 
the same cost per horse capacity that would be incurred if the 
contractor’s stables were purchased. | 

Strong objection to the stable has been made by the peeidents 
of the locality in which it is located. Although no protests were 
heard when the city council, by an ordinance approved July 7, 
1922, authorized the condemnation of the land as a site for a 
stable, the neighborhood subsequently became much aroused and 
obtained a preliminary injunction restraining the city from pro- 
ceeding with the work. After a hearing, however, the court re- 
fused to make the injunction permanent. Opponents of the 
project were instrumental in having a bill introduced and passed 
in the state legislature in 1923 to limit the building of stables in 
cities of the first class (of which Philadelphia is the only one). 
The bill provided that “no stable large enough to accommodate 
more than 50 horses at one time shall be erected in any city of 
the first class within 800 feet of any public playground, school, 
church, or other place of religious worship having a seating cap- 
acity for over 100 persons.” In the veto message of March 29, 
the governor states that, in the absence of a substantial reason 
why the proposed regulation should not be applied as well to 
second- and third-class cities, the bill would undoubtedly be held 
unconstitutional ; that the standards fixed were arbitrary ; that the 
bill violated the principle of home rule; and that it was intended 
to hamper municipal street cleaning. 

It is uncertain what will be the outcome of this first attempt 
to build city stables. As soon as Glenwood Avenue is opened 


38 


through the cemetery tract, access to the stable will be facilitated, 
and there will be less concentration of street equipment. The 
rear of the stable abuts on the New York division of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad. Hence the most probable source of complaint 
will be from the houses on Diamond Street, the yards of which 
overlook the stable yard. 

In adding to the number of satisfactory stables which have 
already been provided, the city may desire to erect modern struc- 
tures at other points, and it is unfortunate that the city has not 
adopted a zoning plan to guide the department of public works 
in selecting locations. Because of the objections which may be 
raised to other locations, the stables now leased by the city, and 
already established in the neighborhood, have a special value. 
Their locations, however, may not always be the most suit- 
able. The whole question of -how and where satisfactory 
stables are to be provided is a complicated one and should receive 
intensive study. 


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 


It is apparent from an examination of the organization chart 
(chart I), and more particularly from inspections of the work 
in the field, that the general supervision is inadequate. A volume 
of work too great for one person to perform fully is thrown 
upon the deputy chief. The work of the bureau of highways, 
involving as it does problems requiring technical skill of a high 
order, should be under the close supervision of engineers trained 
for this work. This is as true of the activities of the division of 
street cleaning as of those of other divisions of the bureau. The 
work of the division of street cleaning might well be consolidated 
more closely with that of the division of highways and thus 
brought under the direct supervision of the district highway 
engineers. An arrangement of this kind would bring to bear upon 
the work of street cleaning and refuse collection the entire engi- 
neering skill of the bureau of highways. 

In chart I are shown suggestions for improving the super- 
vising organization. Perhaps this ideal, organization cannot be 
secured at once, but must be attained by gradual improvement. 
The performance of street cleaning is seldom better than its 
supervision. At the present time centralized supervision is almost 


39 


negligible. Information from several reliable sources supports 
the view that the success which has been attained has been due 
very largely to the energy and resourcefulness of the district 
superintendents. The service would be materially benefited by 
the close personal contact of the superintendents with the district 
engineers and by the constructive direction and assistance which 
the former would receive from the latter. This supervision by 
the highway engineers should extend, however, only to the street 
work, namely, the street cleaning and collection of refuse, the 
disposal services being under separate control. To coordinate 
the whole work, the district highway engineers should in turn 
be under the supervision of division highway engineers who 
would administer the work of a group of districts. Probably not 
more than two division engineers would be necessary at the pres- 
ent time. By this arrangement the whole organization would be 
strengthened, adequate supervision provided, the entire street 
work coordinated, and the responsibility for execution properly 
placed. 

In order that efforts to improve the service and to meet 
changing conditions may be based on accurate and detailed infor- 
mation, a suitable number of engineers should be employed for 
compiling data and studying and formulating plans. Only in 
this way can changes in district boundaries, in schedules, and 
in the extent to which horse-drawn and motor equipment is used, 
be correctly made. Of equal importance is the keeping of rec- 
erds, particularly financial records and those designed to assist 
in the control of equipment. An adequate force should therefore 
be provided for this work. 

It has been pointed out that permanent and_ satisfactory 
shops have not yet been obtained. This is a serious handicap to 
the work of the division. The stables also are in some instances 
highly unsatisfactory, and, as.some of them are rented, money 
expended for their improvement will not be invested for the per- 
manent benefit of the city unless the city should be able to pur- 
chase them at their original value. The problem of providing 
permanent stables should receive immediate attention, and the 
question of renting or owning stables should be settled. 

As the result of our survey of the organization, plant, and 
equipment of the street-cleaning work, we recommend that: 


4O 


1. The organization of street-cleaning work be revised 
as rapidly as possible to agree with that shown in chart I. 


2. Adequate transportation be provided for the super- 
visory services. 


3. A sufficient force of engineers be employed to make 
the necessary studies and prepare plans to place the opera- 
tions of the division on the most efficient and economical 
basis. 


4. An adequate number of clerks be provided to permit 
complete and accurate bookkeeping, accounting, and control 
record-keeping. 


5. Permanent and satisfactory. shops be obtained. 


6. Permanent stables of the best type be provided, and 
the question of renting or owning stables be settled. 


CHAD TERY Uy 


STREET OPERATIONS 


STREET CLEANING 


The actual cleaning of the streets probably appeals more to 
public imagination than any other service performed by the street- 
cleaning division. For a long time the unsatisfactory condition 
of the streets has been a subject of complaint in Philadelphia, 
and the public expected vast improvement under municipal opera- 
tion. Most certainly, public decency and convenience require that 
the streets should be kept reasonably clean, while consideration 
for the public health demands that at frequent intervals there 
should be thorough cleansing, especially of much-used streets. 


Difficulties of Street Cleaning 

It is obviously impracticable to keep all the streets clean at 
ali times. Even if expense could be disregarded, there are many 
practical difficulties. In the downtown district, for illustration, 
by using a very large number of blockmen, or “white wings,” it 
would be possible to remove accumulations of dirt so frequently 
that the streets would have the appearance of great cleanliness. 
Yet they would be covered with a fine dust that the blockmen 
could not remove, and this fine dust on a windy day would prove 
extremely objectionable. It can be removed only by cleaning 
methods that cannot be used during the working day, when the 
traffic is heavy. Even though this fine dust is removed during 
the night, there will be a new accumulation before the following 
business day is over. Some of this dirt comes from the side- 
walks, which the city does not clean, although they are a part of 
the public highway ; and some comes from store sweepings which 
are placed in the street in violation of city regulation. 

Unfortunately, the kind of paving used on many miles of 
streets cannot be thoroughly cleaned. The streets paved with 
rough, traffic-worn, granite blocks, originally laid on a dirt foun- 
dation without a joint filler, can, of course, be given only a rough 
cleaning. These streets, however, produce little dust on a windy 
day, because the dirt is held in the depressions between the blocks. 
While sheet asphalt paving, laid on a concrete base, can be very 


4I 


42 


thoroughly cleansed with water, provided the street grades are 
not too flat, there are many miles of older asphalt pavements, 
laid on a broken-stone base, and now uneven of surface and fre- 
quently in wretched repair, which cannot be thoroughly cleaned. 
The mileage and area of the different types of street pavement in 
Philadelphia are shown in table III-1. From this table it is 
apparent that slightly over 50 per cent of the paving is sheet 
asphalt, which can be cleaned easily when in good repair, while 
about 30 per cent is of granite block which is difficult to clean. 
Of the remaining zo per cent, 14 per cent is vitrified block. 


TABLE. III-1 


STREET AND Roap PAVEMENTS (EXCLUSIVE OF ParK Drives) IN THE 
City oF PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 31, 1922 


Kind of pavement ; Miles Square yards 
Total 1,793.077 24,243,113 
City Streets 1,249.326 19,982,922 
Granite block 337.817 6,213,353 
Asphalt (sheet) 680.888 10,319,662 
os (block) 5.880 55,383 
# (block, modern) 1.155) 15,238 
Vitrified block 175.922 2,836,857 
Wood i 21.392 315,997 
Cobble 4.448 44,771 
Rubble 3.720 54,660 
Slag block 7.920 76,610 
Cement and granolithic 10.184 50,391 
Suburban and Country Roads 371.079 4,260, 191 
Cement concrete 5.905 69,773 
Bituminous 130.474 1,744,484 
Waterbound macadam 228.709 2,439,815 
Granite block on hillsides 0.591 6,119 
Unimproved Earth Roads 172.072 


Note: The predominant kind of paving in each street is taken in the com- 
putation of the mileage. The yardage is based on the actual yard- 
age of each type, including gutters and special types of paving be- 
tween rails. ; 


Improvements in Methods 

During the Blankenburg administration, while street cleaning 
was still done by contract, studies made of street-cleaning opera- 
tions in other large cities resulted in certain distinct improvements 
in the methods used in Philadelphia. The number of blockmen 


43 


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4A 


was increased; cleansing by the use of water replaced machine- 
broom cleaning on many streets; and minimum standards of labor 
and equipment were set up. But the changes in cleaning methods 
made since the inauguration of municipal street cleaning, have 
been far more extensive and beneficial. Many more motor flush- 
ers and blockmen have been used. Machine brooms have been 
relegated to the rougher streets, especially streets where heavy 
traffic exists, and are used on other streets only once a week, 
immediately after ash and rubbish collections. Some of the more 
obvious defects in the old street-cleaning schedules have already 
been corrected. While a major revision of the street-cleaning 
work in West Philadelphia was made effective on January I, 
1923, radical revision of the work throughout the city is waiting 
upon detailed analysis by the engineering force, which is too small 
to meet the demands upon it. 


Quantity of Work Performed 

Table III-2 shows a schedule of the street-cleaning work for 
each district and for the entire city, and indicates the method 
and frequency of cleaning. This schedule can be compared with 
the accompanying record of the work performed during 1920, 
the last year of city-wide contract performance. The area of 
pavement to be kept clean approximates 25,000,000 square yards, 
of which the average area cleaned daily during 1922 was 14,700,- 
000 square yards, whereas the daily average in 1920 was only 
about 10,000,000 square yards. From this area a total of 504,246 
cubic yards of street dirt was collected in 1922. In table III-3 
is shown the quantity of street dirt collected in each month of 
1922. It appears that the smallest monthly collection was made 
in January and the largest in October. 

Although the number of machine brooms remained prac- 
tically constant, the use of flushers doubled, and the number of 
blockmen increased 70 per cent. In some sections, machine- 
broom cleaning has been practically discontinued except for one 
cleaning a week, following the ash and rubbish collections. How- 
ever, in some sections of the city, notably South Philadelphia, it 
has been found advisable to increase machine-broom cleaning, 
which has kept the total amount of this kind of work in 1922 
about equal to that in 1920. 


45 
TABLE III-3 


Quantity oF STREET Dirt CoLLecTeD IN 1922, BY MoNTHS 


Quantities col- 


Months lected in 
cubic yards 


andary ei. otk CEE We Re ates cal ct stds exert wales wes 24,216 
POTS Te ery 6 TNO ck ant AIDC ie ea ape ar ae, are Fn Os UNE aa me CO A 31,372 
Aa PRs Sree ee et cas Fats ou oa ord o 40,964 
RE A ame ee ee er ee ne tk a's ses Uw ce a Re 43,285 
De eT eee ere oe les oa abe tig Peek ede ue 44,506 
MR Me Swe as RENEE OO ek Pogue Peed etaeebes 46,146 
De cere cont, . er oe Sirs A Megat Saris 40,987 
RR Eas hen tee shared « k's SEMEN Re eres feast hla ae wal ean 46,419 
Dem DET Age ©. 6. so 5. MEME tea aide 44 ns id ae paw ato alee 43,860 
DROME Sorta sc a cia 0.15, REE E AIRES ae wl @ Hoceln Shaws 51,225 
NI Sa AM AIRE an 8s. 5. Ses RS pa Sees 50,774 
ee, see, beled EME Ce tT Cee lb ceed: 40,432 

UPR T NIE ote eae aN Fr PO ne 504,246 


Relative Value of Various Methods 


To analyze the methods of street cleaning now employed in 
different sections of the city, or to attempt to indicate what meth- 
ods are best under the conditions encountered, is beyond the scope 
of this report. It should be understood that there is no one method 
of street cleaning that is effective under all conditions of pave-- 
ment surface, street traffic, and weather. The most effective and 
economical apparatus and methods must be determined by study 
and experience, and the apparatus and methods must be changed 
from time to time as conditions require. Perhaps the motor 
flusher has at present the greatest all-round usefulness; but it 
cannot be used on many of the older pavements, especially those 
composed of blocks laid on a dirt base. However, on a smooth, 
impervious pavement surface which has a proper crown and 
grade, the use of sufficient quantities of water under pressure, 
as from a motor flusher, is very effective in removing not only 
the coarser dirt, but also the finer dust. This 1s especially true 
if the street is flushed twice, or if it is sprinkled prior to flushing. 
Water may also be applied by hose flushing, although this method 
is used less now than formerly. Vacuum sweepers have given.a 
certain amount of satisfaction in some cities, but they are of no 


46 


value when the pavements are wet, and other conditions also 
reduce their value in Philadelphia. The horse-drawn broom is 
used more or less in practically all cities. It removes only the 
coarser dirt, and on a smooth pavement usually smears the dirt in 
a thin film over the entire surface. On rough pavements, where 
a high degree of cleanliness cannot be obtained, the use of horse- 
drawn brooms is doubtless economical. The motor sweeper, 
which sprinkles and sweeps with one operation, and which is usu- 
ally provided with a pick-up belt and a dirt-storage box, should 
not be viewed as a new method of cleaning, but only as a step 
in the substitution of motors in place of horses and men. The 
motor sweeper is also made with a special broom for cleaning the 
gutter. Like some other forms of street-cleaning equipment, it 
operates best on well-paved streets with an even curb and gutter; 
its use on roughly paved streets is destructive of the mechanism. 
The motor sweeper doubtless has some field of usefulness in 
Philadelphia, although the street-cleaning division has not been 
very well satisfied with the two machines that have been operated 
for short periods. 

Of great importance in the list of facilities are the blockmen, 
or “white wings.” It is impossible to build a machine that has 
the intelligence of a workman. The hand-broom sweeper can do 
well certain kinds of cleaning that a machine cannot do at all. 
The so-called alleys must be cleaned by hand labor, and on 
streets with numerous depressions or irregular gutters, hand 
brooming alone is effective. If he cleans only the gutters and 
the scattered accumulations of dirt on the crown of the street, 
the blockman is capable of covering a considerable territory in 
a day’s work. Automobile traffic throws the dirt from the street 
into the gutter, and in many localities all that needs to be done 
to make a street attractive is to clean the gutters and to pick up 
the litter. In districts with well-paved streets, cleaning by block- 
men is very effective if supplemented by flushing. As a result 
of a detailed study of methods, the officials of the street-cleaning 
division are of the opinion that the number of blockmen will be 
further increased by as much as 75 per cent in a few years. lf 
blockmen are to become so important a part of the organization, 
their wages should be increased so that better laborers can be 
obtained. Heretofore, the most inefficient and the physically 
defective have been used as blockmen. 


47 


The appearance of the workmen has not received sufficient 
attention. In the eyes of the public, blockmen personify the 
street-cleaning work, so that untidiness may easily be assumed 
to imply inefficient work. Neat workmen, on the other hand, may 
inspire in the public a desire to cooperate in the work of keeping, 
the streets clean. It is probable, also, that a man who is neatly 
uniformed will feel a desire to justify his equipment and appear- 
ance and will do better work. For these reasons, it is important 
that the blockmen be neatly dressed when they are at work, and 
as the white uniform is typical of cleanliness and has become tra- 
ditional in this service, it should be continued. In order that the 
cost of this equipment may not prove burdensome to the work- 
men, provision should be made for it in the wage. 


COLLECTION OF ASHES AND RUBBISH 


The collection of ashes and rubbish is an important part of 
the work of the street-cleaning division. During 1922, as shown 
in table III-4, 1,795,557 cubic yards of ashes and rubbish were 
collected. To collect this huge volume of refuse efficiently and 
economically requires not only careful planning and organization 
of the work by the street-cleaning division, but also the co- 
operation of the householder. 


TABLE III-4 


Quantity or ASHES AND RussisH CoLLECTED IN 1922, By MontHs 


Quantities col- 
Months lected in 
cubic yards 


PSE VRE hi oie. 5. be de Dare watenle pe wt See ele 213,228 
PCA Ey) Mette MUR Fs. 50. 5:0 civ aie BAIR leltie ote wis elvis tassels 258,461 
Ree A Pa cs 5. oo vis ae sale Sse clea ie He. steals 108,626 
Ne re OE Fao 0 0 62 vias win 4 Ma pep ses ae > 175,285 
cs Ban eas! one, i iii iSite sce circ ns 145,551 
eV Ee ss is we ale Sha kode Seeman Wile 87,485 
rae es ee ems. 5! 25 lochs ae eee ate vies ti 77,808 
IgE Ce ree |. 6 5. Lk lw tn a bea earmaide nae 70,012 
PRC MME MEE. , «55.4 3'dig Sie a Scie al seve« Cae thle & 68,870 
OR re ORE NGE 6 oo cons wo Oa aay lc a eee ole 80,374 
DOME OGI IG Vi ARP G ME a. os ve ovis Vas: Cole fe sowie Bene 166,452 
ETO DE Serer Ok os bs a bs - bee +o Deals oh setae alot 253,405 


SRy Ed LE ae PPMENRTE 5 5 5 vip. ost 3 ota wie sate < Goes mir eae 1,795,557 


48 


Separation of Household Wastes 

For collection purposes, household wastes are required to be 
separated into three kinds: garbage, ashes, and rubbish. This 
classification is a result of experience with various methods of 
waste disposal. For a number of years, over half the city’s gar- 
bage has been treated by the reduction process, whereby certain 
constituents which have a commercial value are extracted, while 
the remainder has been used largely for pig feeding. Accordingly, 
it has been necessary to collect the garbage as free as possible 
from other household waste, and it is required that there shall 
be a separate, non-leakable, covered receptacle for garbage in 
each household. To some extent, other kinds of waste, particu- 
larly tin cans, are mixed with the garbage, and of course some 
garbage is thrown with the rubbish and ashes; but the extent of 
this practice is not known. 

Since 1909, an ordinance of council has prohibited the mixing 
of rubbish with ashes. This regulation was made to permit the 
contractor to salvage salable material from the rubbish, thereby 
making possible a lower price to the city for the collection service. 
To insure the separation of ashes and rubbish more effectually, 
about ten years ago the collection of ashes and rubbish on differ- 
ent days was instituted. This practice permitted the use of wag- 
ons specially designed for each kind of waste. Since the collection 
on different days of the week was inconvenient to householders, 
however, and resulted in littering the streets on two different 
days of the week, the collection of ashes and rubbish in recent 
years has been made on the same day oi the week. Also, since 
little use has been made of the opportunity to salvage the rubbish, 
both ashes and rubbish are now usually collected in the same 
wagon, the capacity of which is increased by the use of side- 
boards when the larger part of the load consists of rubbish, which 
is bulkier than ashes in comparison with its weight. When ashes 
and rubbish are mixed in the wagons and disposed of together, 
their separation by the householder is not so important. On the 
other hand, the introduction of incineration, which ordinarily is 
used for rubbish disposal only, will make it necessary for the 
househoider to comply rather faithfully with the ordinance requir- 
ing separation. 


49 


Method of Collection 


Ashes and rubbish are collected once a week throughout the 
year in the entire city. The householder is required by city regu- 
lation to place the containers at the curb. While this is generally 
done, it is extremely difficult to prevent the collectors from carry- 
ing the refuse from the house, if paid by the householder. The 
street-cleaning division is quite aware of the existence of the 
practice of accepting tips. Recently, however, when the wages 
paid by the city have not been so high as those paid in private 
employment, it has perhaps not been expedient to make any effort 
to prevent this practice. The system of tipping is by no means 
a weakness peculiar to municipal operation, but existed also under 
contract operation. Undoubtedly, many householders would be 
glad to pay the increased cost of collection if the collectors would 
carry the household wastes from the yard or from the house. 
Some sentiment in favor of this method has been expressed in 
city council. The refuse could be carried out by the city’s col- 
lectors more easily from detached or semi-detached houses, or 
from row houses which have a door to the cellar from the street ; 
but since the majority of houses are built in rows without such 
means of access to the street from the cellar, it would be neces- 
sary for the collectors to go through the house, and would thus 
place upon the city a heavy responsibility for safeguarding private 
property. 

There are 21 ash and rubbish routes in the 12 street-cleaning 
districts, some districts having as many as three routes. A col- 
lection route, in general, comprises the territory served in one day 
by the district ash- and rubbish-collection equipment consisting 
chiefly of horse-drawn wagons and the necessary complement of 
helpers or loaders. Trucks are also used, particularly in the 
Columbia and Fairhill districts, where the hauls are unusually 
long. 

In the course of studies of methods of ash and rubbish col- 
lection in the several districts, it has been found, as in West 
Philadelphia, that, on certain routes, trucks can be used more 
satisfactorily than wagons. When adequate refuse-disposal facili- 
ties become available at more centrally located points, wagons 
doubtless will be greatly preferred. At present, however, addi- 
tional trucks should be provided, particularly for replacements. 


50 


Changes in Schedules 

At the outset of city-wide municipal collection, the city used 
the collection routes developed under the contract system. This 
was necessary to prevent confusion on the part of the collecting 
forces, which had been largely employed under the contractors, 
and also on the part of the public, which had become accustomed 
to collections at certain fixed times. It was realized, however, 
that while these collection routes had apparently been laid out 
with some attention to density of population and length of the 
haul to the dumps, they had not been planned for the building up 
of new sections or for the changes in the location of dumps. 
Arbitrary limitations, moreover, had been imposed upon these 
routes by district lines which divided the work of different con- 
tractors. Experience in ash and rubbish collection during the 
winter of 1922 disclosed the fact that the contractors had not 
properly proportioned the work to the equipment and labor em- 
ployed and that there were great inequalities in the amount of 
work assigned to the different days of the week. 

Some readjustments have been made in the layout of the 
collection work to overcome the more obvious defects. Owing to 
the lack of comprehensive and reliable information about the 
work done under the contract system, it has been necessary to 
study each section of the city in detail. Adequate revision must 
depend upon the more comprehensive records now maintained and 
upon special studies made in the field. Radical changes can be 
made no faster than these studies can be conducted. 

The methods which are used for disposing of ashes and rub- 
bish are described in Chapter IV, but it may be mentioned at 
this time that the refuse is hauled in the wagons or trucks in 
which it is collected directly to the dumps or barges. 

Experiments are being conducted with waterproof brown 
canvas covers, especially made to stand the hard service, and 
the results have been satisfactory except in freezing weather. 
These covers can be drawn down tightly to prevent spilling even 
when wagons are overloaded. Since overloading is the general 
practice, the canvas cover is more desirable than the iron cover 
which stands partly open, revealing the load. 


51 
GARBAGE COLLECTION 


From July 1 to October 1, garbage is collected each week- 
day in the section of the city south of Hunting Park Avenue and 
between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers; elsewhere it is col- 
lected at least three times a week, and an attempt is made to 
collect four times a week. During the rest of the year, collec- 
tions are made three times a week in all districts, except in Tacony 
and Manayunk, where they are made twice a week. 


Manner of Collection 


Garbage, like ashes and rubbish, is collected according to 
fixed routes which determine the work for each week-day. Ordi- 
narily, the garbage route covers the work of one wagon only, and 
the driver makes the collection himself, although sometimes he 1s 
assisted by a helper. To some extent, the city has experimented 
with the use of trucks in collecting garbage. The truck is able 
to make quicker delivery to the point of disposal; but in a house- 
to-house collection it must be started and stopped many times for 
each loading, the motor must be kept running during short stops, 
and, on account of the many stops and starts, the average speed 
is much less than the most econoniical speed of the truck. Even 
where a gang of loaders is used to speed up the collection, it is 
doubtful whether a saving of cost can be effected. Trailers to be 
drawn by horses during collection of the load, and by motors 
when the load is transferred to the point of disposal, might be 
adaptable in some sections. 


Private Collectors 


Private garbage collectors still operate to some extent in 
Philadelphia, but there has been a 50 per cent reduction in their 
number since the war period. Prior to 1921, the city contracted 
for all garbage collection and disposal in one annual contract. No 
attempt was made to control the private collector, except that by 
ordinance he was supposed to obtain a license from the city’s 
board of health. The contractor for garbage collection and dis- 
posal welcomed the private collector in outlying districts from 
which the haul to the reduction plant would have been expensive, 
and was also grateful to the private collector for removing the 
garbage produced in summer in excess of the capacity of the 
reduction plant. 


52 


At the close of the war, the drop in the price of pork reduced 
the number of private collectors who desired garbage for pig 
feeding. Also, restrictions of the health authorities have consid- 
erably reduced the number of locations in Pennsylvania where 
piggeries can be operated, although considerable garbage is taken 
to piggeries in New Jersey, where the restrictions are not so 
severe. Since the private collector is ordinarily irresponsible, and 
cannot be depended upon for regular collections, the decrease in 
the number of private collectors is a distinct improvement. 

In 1921, when the city took over the operation of the garbage- 
reduction plant, but contracted for garbage collection except in 
the central part of the city, private collectors were permitted to 
operate only as agents for the collecting contractor, who was held 
responsible for their work. Under this restriction, it became the 
custom for the contractor to put men on the streets to help load 
the private collectors’ wagons, and some of the private collectors 
were also paid by the contractor, usually in the form of a wage 
to the driver. 

This latter arrangement was continued in substantially the 
same form by the city in 1922 when it assumed direct contro] of 
the entire garbage collection. In spite of the rather close super- 
vision thus exercised over private collectors, it is estimated that 
a large percentage of the complaints of poor service are due to 
the derelictions of private collectors. It is desirable, therefore, 
that the city service should completely replace private collection 
in all sections, eventually even in collections from hotels, restau- 
rants, and hospitals. This step would probably have been taken 
by the city before were it not that more garbage is produced than 
can be disposed of in the reduction plant. The operators of pig- 
geries would doubtless be willing to carry away the garbage col- 
lected by city forces, a method which is already being used at a 
transfer station in Germantown. 


Equipment in Use 


In table 1II-5 is shown the number of garbage wagons oper- 
ated by the city in each district in 1922, the number of paid pri- 
vate collectors, and the number of licensed private collectors. Of 
paid private collectors, there were only 11 at the close of the 
year 1922, and these were operating in the northern extremity of 
the city. There were 74 licensed private collectors, 25 of whom 


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54 


operated in West Philadelphia, 23 in South Philadelphia, 22 in 
the northern-central section of the city, and 4 in the outlying 
northern districts. The greater number of these collectors operate 
from New Jersey. 


Garbage-Collection Complaints 

The records of the street-cleaning division indicate that 4,272 
garbage-collection complaints were received in 1922, an average 
of one to each 100 houses. The average number of complaints 
received daily during the entire year was 14; from June to Octo- 
ber the daily average was 22, and for the rest of the year it was 
10. About 40 per cent of these complaints were not well founded. 
Many of them, for example, were complaints about the lack of 
daily collection during May and June, which are not months dur- 
ing which daily collections are made. The complaints received 
were turned over promptly to inspectors in the districts from 
which they came and were investigated to learn whether the col- 
lection service had failed. Some complaints, such as those made 
of failure of collection when the garbage was not accessible, are 
unreasonable; but they serve to keep the operating personnel 
keyed to the highest pitch. On the other hand, an accumulation 
of complaints when the work is being handled with great diffi- 
culty, as in time of a labor shortage, is discouraging in the ex- 
treme. During the late spring and early summer of 1923, it was 
practically impossible, because of the low wages paid and the 
disagreeableness of the work, to obtain a sufficient number of 
garbage-wagon drivers; consequently many complaints were re- 
ceived. 


Frequency of Collection 

While garbage is collected each week-day during the summer 
in some of the more closely built-up sections, it is not collected 
daily in all sections. This is a basis of complaint from persons 
who move from the central section of the city, where they have 
been accustomed to daily collections, to sections, such as West 
Philadelphia, where garbage is collected every other day. There 
really is no sound reason for making collections less frequently 
in one of these sections than in the other. But since the exten- 
sion of the daily collection service will add to the cost, it may be 
impossible to accomplish this immediately, although there is doubt- 


55 


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56 


less a strong popular sentiment in its favor. As a matter of fact, 
it is not necessary to collect garbage every day to prevent it from 
becoming a source of nuisance or inconvenience. Collections three 
times a week would conform to the most stringent rules of sani- 
tation if every householder would provide a garbage receptacle of 
adequate capacity and of the proper kind. 


Amount Collected 


The amount of garbage collected in 1922 by city and private 
forces was 133,923 loads, or 216,754 tons, exclusive of garbage 
from hotels, restaurants, and hospitals. The distribution of this 
amount over the 12 months of the year is indicated in table 
Tll-6. Of the total, 163,903 tons were collected by city forces, 
20,563 tons by paid private collectors, and 32,288 tons, or about 
one-seventh of the total, by licensed private collectors. 


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 


We have found that, in general, the work of cleaning the 
streets has been well done under municipal operation. The work 
is extensive and presents many difficulties. These difficulties are 
due in part to conditions, such as narrow alleys, and street sur- 
faces of types not easily cleaned, which cannot be changed imme- 
diately, if at all. Other difficulties, arising from such conditions 
as poorly-constructed pavements and improper uses of streets in 
some localities, can and should be corrected as soon as possible. 

The municipal forces have been able, during the compara- 
tively short period of their operation, to render satisfactory ser- 
vice is removing ashes, rubbish, and street dirt. However, this 
work has been done under serious handicaps which must be elim- 
inated as far as practicable before the work can be conducted on 
the most efficient and economical basis. In the plans for future 
development of the collection service, the problem of ultimate 
disposal of ashes and rubbish must be given serious considera- 
tion. 

One of the principal difficulties in the collection of garbage 
arises from the lack of team alleys. Since this condition cannot 
be changed where it exists, the collection methods must be adapted 
to it. From necessity, the work was conducted at first in accord- 
ance with schedules arranged by the private contractors who 


“ff 


previously did the work. These schedules, being poorly planned 
in many instances, must be readjusted. 

We have found that the garbage-collection service has been 
well maintained and extended, but that, because of difficulties 
encountered and lack of funds to overcome them quickly, much 
needs to be done to place the service on a high plane of efficiency. 
The failure to provide for ease and rapidity of refuse collection 
when city blocks are planned and houses built adds to the diffi- 
culties of the work of collection. 

At present the private collector is an important factor in the 
problem, and should be eliminated for the good of the service. 
It has been necessary for the division of street cleaning to pros- 
ecute the work with an insufficient number of wagons and under 
disadvantageous labor conditions, These are matters of vital im- 
portance which should be corrected by the provision of adequate 
funds. 

Careful studies are necessary to determine the best methods 
of operation, the most effective equipment and the proper adjust- 
ment of personnel for the street-cleaning and refuse-collection 
services. These studies must be correlated with studies of the 
whole problem, of. which street cleaning and refuse collection are 
only a part. It is not to be expected that the operating forces 
can undertake the exhaustive investigations needed for broad, 
general planning. Competent specialists should, therefore, be em- 
ployed to make this study. 

When the general study has been completed and a plan de- 
veloped, much work will be necessary to put it into operation and 
to make the adjustments which changing conditions will require. 
To do this work, an adequate force of engineers should be per- 
manently employed by the division of street cleaning. 

With the need of improvements for the betterment of the 
service in view, we recommend that: 


1. An adequate engineering force be maintained to make 
the necessary studies and prepare plans to place the street 
operations on the most efficient basis. 


2. The workmen, particularly the blockmen, be neatly 
uniformed while at work. 


3. An adequate number of wagons be obtained for the 
collection service, and the conditions of labor employment be 


58 


adjusted to provide a sufficient number of employes at all 
times. 

4. The street operations be included in a study of the 
whole problem by competent consulting specialists in order 
that all parts of the service may be correlated. 


CHAPTER IV 


DISPOSAL OR RELUSE 


The volume of refuse collected annually from the streets 
and dwellings of Philadelphia is immense. During the year 1922, 
the municipal forces removed from the streets 504,246 cubic yards 
of street dirt and collected 1,795,557 cubic yards of ashes and 
rubbish and 184,466 cubic yards of garbage, in addition to which 
32,288 cubic yards of garbage were collected by private collectors. 
After this vast amount of refuse has been collected, disposal is 
necessary. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the meth- 
ods of disposal that are used. 


DisposAL OF ASHES, RUBBISH, AND STREET D1rT 
Dumbs 


At present, ashes, rubbish, and street dirt are disposed of en- 
tirely upon land dumps. The greater volume is hauled directly to 
the dumps in the collection wagons and trucks, although barges 
are used to transport mixed refuse from dumping wharves on 
both sides of the Schuylkill River, near the Spring Garden Street 
Bridge, to dumps in South Philadelphia, and relay trucks have 
been used to carry material from a transfer station formerly main- 
tained at 1120 Race Street to dumps east of Broad Street in 
South Philadelphia. 

Dumps for the disposal of mixed ashes and rubbish are be- 
coming scarce, and must be sought at constantly increasing dis- 
tances from built-up sections. Chart II shows the scattered loca- 
tions of these dumps. 

The city always secures the consent of the land-owner for 
the use of his property by a written agreement terminable by 
either party on ten days’ notice. In the few instances listed in 
table I1V-1, the city pays a small remuneration for the privilege of 
dumping ashes and rubbish, 

It will be observed that the prices paid are relatively small— 
averaging less than four cents per cubic yard. This is especially 
apparent when the prices are compared with the charge usually 
made by owners of dump property to building contractors for the 
privilege of dumping excavated dirt. Ashes and rubbish, more- 


59 


60 


over, constitute a much less desirable fill, because they settle slowly 
and cannot be built upon for a considerable period. Land-owners 
are always reluctant to grant the city the privilege of dumping 
mixed ashes and rubbish, when private building contractors will 
not only pay more for the privilege of dumping but use better 
materials for fill. 


TABLE IV-1 
RECORD OF RENTALS Paip FoR ASH AND RuppisH Dumps IN USE IN 1923 


, “ Average 
Location Payment Conditions amount of 
material dumped 


Fishers Lane _  and|$3,500 annually No limit to quan- |142,000 cu. yds. 
Harrowgate Lane, tity dumped in 1922 
Wheatsheaf Lane 
and Cedar St. 

Manayunk Ave. and} 750 


73 6 


19,000 cu. yds. 


Leverington Ave. in 1922 
Ridge Ave. and Har-} 750 cH 19,000 cu. yds. 
vey St. in 1922 
Walnut Lane and} 1,800 to fill (com- 63,000 cu. yds. 
Ampho St. pleted Dec. 31, 
1923) 
Thirty-second St. and] 5,000 to fill (com- 80,000 cu. yds. 
Midvale Ave. pleted June I, (capacity ) 
1923 ) 


Clean ashes alone are most excellent filling material: the 
combination of fine dust with larger particles settles quickly into a 
mass that has good sustaining power. Mixing rubbish with ashes, 
however, destroys almost completely the good qualities of the 
ashes as material for fill. The mass of mixed refuse contains 
large voids and does not settle readily; it therefore harbors rats 
which feed on garbage mixed by the householder with the rub- 
bish in violation of city ordinance. Fires occur with great fre- 
cuency in the combustible material. This, to some extent, con- 
stitutes a fire menace, and always creates a smoke nuisance in the 
immediate neighborhood. Dumps used for mixed ashes and rub- 
bish, moreover, are extremely unsightly and offensive. 


Harrowgate Incinerator 


The time is not far distant when public opinion will demand 
the discontinuance of the practice of dumping mixed ashes and 
rubbish. Because of the great difficulty already experienced by 


61 


the division of street cleaning in securing convenient sites for 
mixed-refuse dumping, a start has been made toward the instal- 
lation of incinerating plants, capable of burning the greater bulk 
of rubbish easily and cheaply, and operating under such high 
temperatures that garbage can undoubtedly be consumed also with- 
out creating offense. The Harrowgate incinerator will serve the 
northeastern section of the city. It will have a capacity of 280 
tons of mixed refuse each 24 hours. The furnaces are 
of the Sterling type, similar to those in use in Toronto, Canada. 
The plant, which will cost slightly over $400,000, will be available 
for use in 1924; its location on a hillside will greatly facilitate 
the operation. Since this initial incinerating unit is in a sense an 
experiment, the results of its operation may determine whether 
the city will construct other plants. 

It will be recalled that the department of public works was 
authorized by an ordinance approved August 4, 1921, to proceed 
with the construction of the first incinerating unit at Eighteenth 
and Cambria Streets. Plans had been drawn and bids received, 
when opposition to this project resulted in council’s withdrawing 
its authorization on October 21, 1921, and upsetting the depart- 
ment’s plans to complete the first unit in time to relieve the acute 
need for garbage-disposal facilities anticipated in the summer of 
1923. The department expects such satisfaction with the opera- 
tion of the Harrowgate plant that further appropriations will be 
made for constructing three additional plants, one in the German- 
town-Chestnut Hill section, one in West Philadelphia, and one in 
South Philadelphia. It is estimated that at least $1,500,000 will 
be necessary to complete this program. So urgent and so vital to 
the convenience and health of the people does this program ap- 
pear, that the necessary funds should be provided at the earliest 
possible moment. 


Aspects of the Incinerating Project 


No provision is being made at the Harrowgate plant for the 
reclamation of valuable material from the rubbish, nor for the 
utilization of the heat which is generated in the combustion 
process. The financial gain from picking over the rubbish before 
it is burned is so uncertain, and depends so directly upon market 
conditions for salvaged materials, that it is questionable whether 


62 


the city is justified in making the additional investment in the 
facilities that would be needed, or whether the city should add 
this troublesome activity to its present problems. Utilization of 
the generated heat would also require additional investment, which 
might be justifiable under some conditions, and not under others. 
Problems of this kind should, of course, be decided on the advice 
of competent specialists. 


DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE 


Methods have to be found for disposing of the vast quantity 
of garbage collected annually in Philadelphia. As pointed out in 
Chapter III, 216,754 tons were collected during 1922. Although 
32,288 tons of garbage were collected and disposed of by licensed 
private collectors, there still remained 184,466 tons which had to 
be disposed of by the city. 

Because of the city’s inadequate disposal facilities, it was 
necessary, as an emergency measure, to place 47,733 tons on 
farms in West Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, Richmond, and 
Tacony. The farmers were glad to receive the garbage because it 
constitutes a cheap and good fertilizer. Garbage, however, is not 
suitable for use as fertilizer until it has decayed for about two 
years. This method of disposal may, therefore, prove objection- 
able to neighbors unless the odor is neutralized and fly-breeding 
prevented. If land disposal is to be used to any considerable ex- 
tent pending the provision of other means of disposal, the garbage 
should be buried under a layer of earth. To do this, to be sure, 
would entail some expense, but would doubtless prove cheaper 
than some of the other substitute methods of disposal. 


Garbage Keduction 


The garbage-reduction plant, which was erected in 1906, is 
located on the west bank of the Schuylkill River at the foot of 
Forty-ninth Street. This plant was acquired by the city in Janu- 
ary, 1921, from the Penn Reduction Company, which for some 
years had held an annual contract for the collection and disposal 
of garbage from the entire city. The purchase price was $500,000, 
which included, however, 300 garbage wagons and a repair shop. 
According to the bureau of highways, the wagons and shop may 
be valued at $40,000. Of the remaining $460,000, the land is 


63 


worth $60,000, the buildings $100,000, and the machinery and 
equipment $300,000. 

A process known as the modified Arnold system is used at 
the plant. The garbage is cooked by steam under pressure, and is 
then pressed to separate the water and grease which are conducted 
to skimming tanks. The solid residue, after drying, is treated with 
naphtha for the extraction of additional grease, and is then dried 
and screened. This finely divided residue, known as tankage, 
which is used as a fertilizer or as a fertilizer base, and the 
grease, obtained in the two operations mentioned, are salable by- 
products, the market price of which largely determines the extent 
of the net cost, or the net profit, from the operation of the reduc- 
tion process. During the period of the World War, garbage grease 
brought as high as 14 cents a pound, and tankage over $15 a 
ton. Following the armistice, these prices took a sudden drop, 
and during 1921, the first year of the city’s operation of the plant, 
all tankage produced could not be sold, and grease prices were so 
low that it was not profitable to operate the percolators for the 
extraction of all the grease. 

Grease prices increased considerably in the first few months 
of 1923. Under a three months’ contract for the sale of grease, 
beginning May 1, 1923, the city received 7.05 cents a pound. 
Conditions were favorable for the operation of the reduction 
plant during 1923, and the results reported for the year show a 
profit. These conditions, however, should not be accepted as more 
than temporary, nor should it be assumed that extensive additions 
to this plant, or the construction of other garbage-reduction plants 
to dispose of all the garbage produced in the city, is preferable to 
some other method of disposing of the surplus that cannot be 
treated in the present reduction plant. If allowances for deprecia- 
tion and interest on the investment are included, the cost of oper- 
ating the reduction plant during 1922 appears greater than the re- 
turn from the sale of by-products. Other years of loss will doubt- 
less be as frequent as years of profit. 

The objective should be a method of rapid and sanitary dis- 
posal which creates no nuisance. In general, the plant at the 
Schuylkill River and Forty-ninth Street has not been so objection- 
able in its operation as some of the garbage-reduction plants in 
other cities. The gases which arise from the drying of the tank- 
age are about the only source of objection, A taller chimney, 


64 


equipped with a spray for washing the gases, has been completed, 
so that the washed gases are discharged at a higher elevation. If 
necessary, some provision will be made to treat the offensive fumes 
that are not absorbed in the washing. Since the entire plant, how- 
ever, becomes saturated with odors from the cooking and drying 
processes, its location close to residential districts is undesirable. 
If additional garbage-reduction plants would have to be placed at 
remote points, it might be preferable, from a financial standpoint, 
to adopt some other method of disposal, the necessary plants for 
which could be more centrally located. Although such a system 
might cost more per ton for treatment, it should result in a net 
saving because of cheaper collection and transportation costs. 


Results of Operation of Garbage-Reduction Plant 


Quite satisfactory results have been obtained by the garbage- 
reduction plant under city operation. Fortunately the city was 
able to retain as superintendent, a man formerly employed at the 
plant under private auspices, who enjoys a high standing among 
garbage-reduction-plant operators. The plant has been kept in 
continuous operation with not more than the ordinary amount of 
maintenance costs, Certain expensive replacements, however, must 
necessarily be made in the next few years. Oil is soon to replace 
coal as fuel under the boilers, with a resulting increase in horse- 
power, a simplification of the operation, and a decrease in cost. 
The record of operation of the plant has entirely allayed fears 
that the municipality could not operate such a plant as success- 
fully as a private owner. Success hinges primarily upon efficient 
supervision and freedom from external interference; and so long 
as the city is willing to pay for efficient supervision, and the op- 
erating personnel is appointed and retained on the basis of merit, 
the operation of the plant should be a success. 

Obviously, since the managers of the plant cannot control the 
market prices of its products, the success of the garbage-reduction 
plant should not be judged only by the net profit or net cost. 
Nor should the plant be expected to handle all the garbage col- 
lected, or to work at an overload for an extended period. The 
nominal capacity is 520 tons for a day of twelve hours. Because 
of the necessity for making repairs and cleaning the equipment, 
the plant cannot be operated at full capacity over an extended 


65 


period. In August, 1922, on 27 weekdays, 13,832 tons of gar- 
bage were handled, an average of 512 tons per day. During 
the week of August 14-19, 6,756 tons were brought to the plant, 
an amount exceeding 1,000 tons per day, while on one day, Mon- 
day, August 14, 1,411 tons were received. The plant is not oper- 
ated at such a load in August because of any financial gain from 
the manufactured by-products, but only becatise it is imperative 
that disposal be made of the garbage. Garbage collected in Au- 
gust and September, when the fruit and vegetable season is at its 
height, is, of course, unusually high in moisture content and ex- 
ceedingly low in grease content. The greatest percentage of grease 
in garbage occurs in the spring months. Detailed information of 
the operation of the plant and production of grease and tankage 
is contained in table I1V-2. 


Garbage Incineration 


The Harrowgate incinerating plant previously described is 
designed to consume not only rubbish, or rubbish and ashes mixed, 
but also garbage. Similar plants have proven successful in at 
least one large city, and it is expected that this plant can be oper- 
ated even in the summer season with a large proportion of gar- 
bage without proving objectionable. On account of the necessity 
of burning rubbish, doubtless other incinerating plants will be 
erected, and, if the Harrowgate plant can successfully consume 
garbage, the present acute garbage-disposal problem will be sim- 
plified. Due, however, to the fact that garbage may be used as 
fertilizer on farms in outlying districts for some years to come, 
investigation should be made of the possibility and cost of com-. 
posting garbage, either under natural conditions or in zymother- 
mic cells. The city should be ever on the alert to investigate newly 
developed processes of garbage treatment that might prove more 
efficient or profitable. 


Water Transportation 


For some years the contractors who collected the city’s gar- 
bage used scows to transport garbage from a wharf on the 
Schuylkill River near Callowhill Street to the reduction plant. 
Since the city undertook the collection of garbage, this method 
of transportation has been continued under private contract. Dur- 


66 


TABLE IV-2 


RESULTS OF THE OPERATION OF THE GARBAGE-REDUCTION 
: PLANT IN 1922 


Expense 
Coals Suni SSCk ae ences igen bikes ek eso $118,907.96 
Naptha 905.04. Sevan Ate capa se ee ere ke 12,848.12 
General Supplies and Miscellaneous.......... 26,848.65 
Paytoll: snp eta aeee ie Baer meee as ees ce 116,704.10 
Operating 7Expense vi a eee is Bee een tachaek $275,308.83 | $275,308.83 
Depreciation) on GPlantimc 208 aes. pas OSes 35,000.00 
Interest at 5 per cent on depreciated average 
plant fvalne sot “4075007 oak eee eee 20,375.00 
LOTAL “LGXPENSE Secon asses ae ncaa eee oe eee eee $330,683.83 
Receipts 
Value spf Grease: Extracted 25.9.4). ued oe aoe $192,256.05 
Value “of Tankace “Produced@..75.....4468- 43,587.18 
$235,843.23 $235,843.23" 
Net. EXPENSE |.505.0.....0 7070. 252. $ 94,840.60 
Unit Costs 
Amount: of. “Garbage. Treated. ij.......<iu duce penne ‘ 105,336 tons 
Operating Expense of Garbage Treatment.............. $2.61 per ton 
Total Expense ‘of Garbage “Treatment. 72a eee 3.140 
Value: of sBy-Products Produced «.3.5\:0 eee 2.24 
Net. Expense ‘of Garbage Treatment (7... v.20 epee ee 190) ae 
DETAILS OF ANNUAL OPERATION 
Amount: of ’ Garbage Treated (2. eke va eee eee 105,336 tons 
Amount’ of Greases Extracted... seer ce pee ene 4,931,320 Ibs. 
Ratio-of Grease to Garbage Treated .........5...¢05 2.345 per cent 
Amount vot Latikate: -Produced.o,. i). ..2 1) ose cae eee 11,640 tons 
Ratio of Tankage Produced to Garbage Treated...... 11.05, per cent 
Coal Used per Ton’ of -Garbage Treated. ...... 00.005 331.45 Ibs. 
Naptha Used per ton of Garbage Treated ........... 0.42 gallon 


DETAILS OF MoNTHLY OPERATION 


Tons Tons Per cent Tons Per cent 


Month garbage grease grease tankage tankage 

treated extracted extracted produced produced 
January ones 6,216 8197.0 3.18 490 7.88 
BebDruary chohitenaes 5,370 186.3 3.47 528 gee 
Marches avian O89) “i. 240.0 3.51 724 10.56 
ADT ee rors 7,008 248.6 3.55 goo 12.84 
May? 4S seis 8,184 | 260.9 3.30 877 10.71 
AS titee ee eet 9,490 267.2 2.83 1,180 12.46 
ily Oe eae 10,976 203.6 1.86 1,140 10.39 
AURUSER. ae 13,832 144.4 1.05 1,660 12.00 
September ..... 11,104 152.9 1.38 1,104 9.91 
Octobery . feeies 9,864 225.6 2.29 1,147 11.62 
November ..... 8,400 191.9 2.29 930 11.07 
December =o) 22.2 8,056 138.1 72 966 11.92 

‘Total secur 105,336 2,465 11,640 

Average .... 2.345 11.05 


*Represents the value of by-products produced in 1922, not the re- 
ceipts from sale of by-products. The latter is shown in table WJ-1. 


67 
ing 1922, 537 barge-loads (or about two-thirds of garbage dis- 
posed of at the reduction plant), were transported for an annual 
contract price of $22,000, or at an average cost of 27 6/Io cents 
per ton. | ; 

Because dumps for the disposal of ashes, rubbish, and street 
dirt are not available within a reasonable distance of the Columbia 
district south of Lehigh Avenue, and in West Philadelphia north 
of Market Street and west to Forty-first Street, water transporta- 
tion of these wastes by contract was undertaken in 1922. Dump- 
ing wharves were used on both sides of the Schuylkill River just 
south of the Spring Garden Street Bridge. The refuse was con- 
veyed in barges of 1,200 cubic yards’ capacity to a point on the 
west bank of the Schuylkill River north of Penrose Ferry Bridge, 
where the material was removed by clam-shell buckets, placed on 
side-dump cars, and deposited on the lowlands back of the bulk- 
head lines. The contract price was 59 cents per cubic yard, 
including the entire expense of transporting and disposing of the 
refuse after it was dumped at the wharf. The limit of the con- 
tract for the year was $206,000, and a total of 331,114 cubic yards 
was transported by this method at a cost of $195,357.26. The 
contract for the year 1923 was made on a tonnage basis, which is 
more equitable, and the load is measured by the water-displace- 
ment method. 

Between June 1 and December 15, 1922, 10,150 cubic yards 
of unassorted refuse was given to a private company, which picked 
out 42 per cent for salvage and returned 58 per cent to the 
scows. The city saved $2,566.50 by the reduction in the material 
to be transported, but no information is available: to indicate 
whether the operation was profitable to the company. 

The city has recently made arrangements for the establish- 
ment of an additional refuse-dumping wharf at the foot of Green 
Street on the Delaware River. To this wharf ashes and rubbish 
are brought from the Race and Fairhill districts. Since barges 
are now operating from Green Street Wharf, the transfer of ref- 
use from wagons to relay trucks at 1120 Race Street has been 
discontinued, except at times when the barge service may be in- 
terrupted. The discontinuance of the truck-transfer station has 
become necessary because of the complaints from persons in the 
vicinity of 1120 Race Street, and also because of the desirability 
of reducing the traffic congestion on Broad Street. 


68 


City OwNERSHiP OF DUMps AND WATER-[TRANSPORTATION 
| EQUIPMENT 


It is quite probable that water transportation of ashes, rubbish, 
and street dirt, but particularly of ashes and street dirt, will have 
an important place in the permanent program for refuse disposal 
which must be developed in the immediate future. For this rea- 
son, consideration should be given to the advisability of the city’s 
acquiring its own facilities for this work. Since the filling-in of 
the lowlands of South Philadelphia greatiy enhances the property 
values, it may also be to the best interests of the city that tracts 
suitable for dumping purposes for years to come should be pur- 
chased by the city. After these tracts have been improved, they 
could be devoted to municipal purposes or sold for private de- 
velopment, as may seem best at the time. Only by purchasing 
ground can the city be certain of adequate dump sites at avail- 
able points, and if the property is enhanced in value by the city’s 
refuse-disposal operations, the city should reap the benefit of the 
increased value. The function of city ownership of dumps, as 
well as of water-transportation equipment, should receive detailed 
study. 


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 


Serious consideration should be given to methods of ultimate 
disposal of refuse. Since water transportation is closely related 
to the collection and disposal work now done by the city, the ad- 
visability of acquiring its own water-transportation equipment 
must be determined by the city. The city must decide to what 
extent dumps shall be used, and whether it shall own or lease the 
dumps. Other methods of disposal, such as incineration, should 
be considered in the light of the most recent knowledge and ex- 
perience. 

One of the most pressing matters which confronts the city is 
the problem of garbage disposal. The solution of this problem, 
and also the selection of methods to be employed for disposing of 
other refuse, will require detailed analysis of all the factors 
which influence refuse disposal in Philadelphia. This is work 
which those engaged in meeting the urgent needs of the daily 
service should not be ‘called upon to do. It 1s, therefore, advis- 
able that competent consulting specialists be employed to study 
the problem and advise the city. 


69 


The methods of refuse disposal which have been used, al- 
though admittedly not wholly satisfactory, have probably been 
the best that could be obtained under existing conditions. How- 
ever, as there is obviously need for improvement, we recommend, 
as the result of our study for the bettering of the refuse-disposal 
service, that: 


1. Competent consulting specialists be retained to study 
the conditions and advise the city as to the best methods of 
refuse disposal, correlating this study with a study of the 
collection services. 


2. The city determine and adopt the most economical 
and satisfactory policy for the future development and use 
of dumps, particularly the owning or leasing of dumps. 

3. The city consider the advisability of acquiring its 
own equipment for the transportation of refuse by water. 


CHAPTER V 


PERSONNEL PROBLEMS 


INTRODUCTION 
Size of the Street-Cleaning Service 


In carrying on its street-cleaning activities, our city govern- 
ment employs a considerable force of workers. In 1922 this force 
consisted of approximately 3,000 officials and employes, or more 
than one-seventh of the entire city and county service. The cost 
of the street-cleaning payroll during that year, in round figures, 
was $3,500,000, or about one-ninth of the total amount paid out 
of the city treasury for salaries and wages. 

The following is a list of the positions, number of incum- 
bents, and rates of pay in the street-cleaning division, as given in 
the budget for 1924: 


STREET CLEANING, COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF ASHES AND RUBBISH, 
AND COLLECTION OF GARBAGE 


Salaried employes 
Deputy chief (in charge of street-cleaning 


CIVISION Janes « Ge aes aus seen gs nae I at $6,000.00 a year 
Assistant engineer ....... Soren ce dee. eee 1°. 3,850.000" ae 
Assistant “engineer <..esoses cee cee tees POG 1 2,750.00. 3a 
General superintendent of horses ............. 1“ 300.00/05 nee 
Superintendéntt9!. Y... gece eee 18 at'$200 to 250.00 32g 
Assistant engineer s.icic.a's «eaten ota cee Ioat. 250.0000 ce 
Supervising engineer... i. «2s ss nn ean eee 4” 200.007). amee 
Igispector, o. cv oe cuke Ee oe cas nd eee 6 at $140 to 175.00 
Foréinan 2.82 oo ee 45-0 ee 166.60. ae 
Sub-foreman cetera eae ere eae 120) {et00:.“‘ «128.000. 
Foreman; - motor vmechanices 5.5 60.00 coe Z-at 175.00 
Clerkejor.:timekeepets osic 3 dbve tee. oak cameras 20“ 125.002) ae 
Stenoerapher (i sn/eiulve ass ack ee tae Ea ae 3.“ . 110.00 “See 


Per-diem employes 


Horeshoer’. 30 Gaines ee te eee I Se 40 at $6.00 a day 
Blacksmith i.e et ee eee 16 at $5.50 to 6.00 “ “ 
Blacksmith’s. helper ..ca/.e. ue. si, ee eee, 8 ‘at: 4.5057 ae 
Wheelwright is /s0 40d ocean Lek ee eee tees 32." 6.002 ae 
Harnessmaker: wis cyeuw ne ani ee oe es 10“ 6.00, 
Motor mechanic’. ..4:.. ea eR ee 22. at. $5.50 to 6.00 “a 


70 


POON TEE 0574 Aaa Woe Ay eker oath el ae ei. UR Rt om Siatrsioe, so Ade day 
RM sIRtP Tay Be do eds saat ces Re aan ei ae Ten MC Oe et Aaa ae 
Prise le): AT iei a esas & es coer rc eh ae es 150s et 00m ae 
ESFICKIAVED, “oon Gs Mag en Sete ome th eee tw tor sue Bit.) 5 ona et 
PA DOLCET oe ie vee ee Beer un or ete ESO En aU ee ee 
Laborereys cot GAUGE oe, Seal ete anes ch G751S Sasso wat Ane 
Tibrer gry a te eae tates elie wis ace Nes S53 200s tern 
eae etd, it oe thee ON: Bekins Sian: Sarah a oka ade SOO seth 2.7 Si ‘ 


MUNICIPAL GARBAGE PLANT 
Salaried employes 


Superinten den ems so cee Le i es baie. Gees I at $5,000.00 a year 
e\Ssistatibe Sliperintemdentsosys veut akc kien oslsotecots Tee 8 250.00 0: 
BSP OTIALT ows 5c 6 SSE ee Oe nee eae Tei luer LOO00ar) an 5. 
SPEIERCOT CITI +s cic koe Rae Sask olor ec hele sd « lis wee S125.008 oe 
Sees CNPINCCE. Oca co hc itue eiect Siab oiGO- ANd aus P26 OOtes out 
Peremereatl } 30 ye te ie Pee Pee et wee aaa ak Pate tok GO mae. 
mteeand: timekeeper. 7. .tieo ss ss ceases 64 28 < To vide t2S:00.0\. eae 


Per-diem employes 


Perea EOVCLATORSS: (io 0 sa. duh sae eden Nee. Vea es 1 at $6.00 a day 
PME ON Gt 5014s ov vib oO Sor EAS 4 at $5.50 to 6.00 “ “ 
Evonworwer- or botlermaker. «6 oo. oc cha etiowe sce ces 2: ata GOON ies 
Be rors yo din ¢'o.4-4 5 he Pele ai a a caterers Fa tN apie Poe 
MPR, RE oS cane cack dee DUE Bs eee ame Tour 
PE, ere ee ics co oe sont cig ois Sate ee Pte. Ss hecksicd tah 
EA OU 0 Sie ee ee re ee Sek a et BO AS eee te 
bine = RR kh in a ee Hira a da By Fh Ale ese 


Importance of Competence and Morale 


One of the major problems in rendering efficient street- 
cleaning service is that of securing and maintaining a high level of 
competence and morale in this extensive human organization. It 
is not a problem that ordinarily solves itself, for compétence and 
morale do not develop automatically; they have to be fostered 
by the employing authorities. Unless workers are selected with 
care, they are not likely to measure up to reasonable standards of 
competence; unless working conditions tend to stimulate rather 
than depress, a high morale cannot be expected. 


Purpose and Scope of Chapter 


The purpose of this chapter is to examine what is now being 
done to foster competence and morale in the city’s street-cleaning 


72 


service and to suggest such changes in the present practice as may 
appear desirable. Because of the limitations of space, this exam- 
ination cannot go into minute details, but must be confined to the 
more important phases of the subject. These would appear to be 
(1) the relation of the civil service commission to appointments, 
transfers, reinstatements, promotions, and removals in the street- 
cleaning service, (2) the adequacy of present rates of compensa- 
tion of street-cleaning employes, and (3) the hours of work, 
vacations, holidays, sick leave, and provision for retirement of 
these employes. 


Distribution of Employment Authority 


It should be understood at the outset that authority over em- 
ployment matters is exercised by a number of officials and official 
agencies. These include the executive officials of the department 
of public works and the bureau of highways, who have power 
to make all appointments, transfers, reinstatements, promotions, 
and removals, subject, however, to the rules of the civil service 
commission; the civil service commission, which tests the qualifi- 
cations of applicants, establishes lists of eligibles for appointment, 
and prescribes rules governing appointments, transfers, rein- 
statements, promotions, and removals; the city council, which fixes 
the rates of compensation of employes and regulates their hours 
of work, holidays, vacations, and sick leave; and the mayor, to 
whom ordinances passed by council are submitted for approval. 
In our consideration of the various phases of the street-cleaning) 
employment problem, this distribution of authority should be 
borne constantly in mind. 


RELATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION TO THE PROBLEM 
The Commission's Important Place 


Of the officials and official agencies, other than the executive 
officials of the department of public works and the bureau of high- 
ways, who have employment authority in the street-cleaning ser- 
vice, the civil service commission occupies the most important place. 
Under Article XIX of the new charter, the commission exercises 
control over appointments, transfers, reinstatements, promotions, 
reductions, suspensions, and removals in the classified service of 
the city government. The division of street cleaning, being wholly 


73 


within the classified service as defined by the city charter, is sub- 
ject to the commission’s control. Authority to classify positions 
according to duties and to recommend to the mayor and council 
standard rates of pay for the various classes is also conferred 
upon the commission. 


Classification of the Service 


As an aid to employment control, the commission, by direc- 
tion of the charter, has arranged the positions in the classified 
service in three classes: the exempt class, which includes posi- 
tions, other than that of unskilled laborer, for the filling of which 
competitive examinations have been found impracticable ; the labor 
class, which includes ordinary unskilled laborers ; and the competi- 
tive class, which includes all positions in the classified service not 
included in the exempt and labor classes. All positions in the 
street-cleaning division are in the competitive and labor classes, 
about 552 being in the former and about 3,075 in the latter.? 


The Competitive Class 


The commission’s control of employment affairs is more thor- 
ough-going in the competitive class than in any other. Appoint- 
ments and promotions in this class can be made only from eligible 
lists established by the commission as the result of competitive ex- 
aminations. These lists remain in effect for at least one year, if 
not sooner exhausted, and not more than two years. For each 
vacancy the commission certifies the names of the two persons 
having the highest rating on the most appropriate eligible list, the 
appointing officer being permitted to choose either one. A’ name 
that has been twice passed over by an appointing officer may not 
again be certified to that officer for the same or a similar position. 
The initial appointment or promotion is for a probationary period 
of three months. If during that period a new appointee’s ser- 
vices are unsatisfactory to the appointing officer, the latter may 


*These figures relate to positions authorized in the city budget for 
1924. The reason for the apparent discrepancy between this statement and 
the one in the first paragraph of this chapter is that the actual number of 
employes at work is not as great as the number of positions authorized 
in the city budget. 


74 


notify him that he will not be retained after the end of the three 
months. If the probationer is not so notified, his appointment or 
promotion becomes permanent at the expiration of the proba- 
tionary period. In the absence of an appropriate eligible list, the 
appointing officer may nominate a person to the commission for 
non-competitive examination, and if the nominee is certified by 
the commission as qualified, he may be appointed or promoted pro- 
visionally until a regular appointment or promotion can be made. 
A provisional appointment, however, cannot continue longer than 
three months. 

Only brief mention is possible of the other forms of employ- 
ment control exercised by the commission in the competitive class. 
Transfers from one office, bureau, or department to another office, 
bureau, or department can be made only after approval by the 
commission. Under the commission’s rules, persons laid off on 
account of lack of work or lack of funds are placed on reinstate- 
ment lists from which they are certified for reinstatement in the 
inverse order of their laying-off. Persons separated from the 
service on account of delinquency or misconduct, however, may 
be reinstated only upon requisition of the appointing officer and 
the approval of the commission, which must be satisfied that “the 
charges upon which the person was separated have been found 
not true, or were inadequate, and that the separation was not 
justified.” Furthermore, no requisition for such a reinstatement 
is honored if received by the commission later than one year after 
the separation occurred. Outside the uniformed police and fire 
forces, the commission exercises but slight control over removals 
from the service. The appointing officer is required to furnish 
the employe with a written statement of the reasons for the re- 
moval (which must be neither religious nor political), and to allow 
him five days to make a written reply. A copy of the statement 
of reasons and of the employe’s reply must be filed with the com- 
mission. In the uniformed police and fire forces, a removal can- 
not be made unless ordered by the commission, after a public trial 
before that body, but in other branches of the city service in the 
competitive class, including the street-cleaning service, the ap- 
pointing officer himself has final power to remove. 


75 


The Labor Class 


In the labor class, the commission is less exacting in its re- 
quirements than in the competitive class.* No competitive exam- 
inations are given to labor applicants. The only test such appli- 
cants must undergo is for physical fitness’: After having success- 
fully passed this test they are placed upon a labor eligible list in 
the order of their applications. Under normal conditions, physi- 
cal-fitness examinations for laborers are given only four times a 
year, but if the lists are exhausted, the commission may hold 
examinations at more frequent intervals. When examinations are 
held quarterly, the lists remain in effect for three months. At the 
end of the three-month period, any eligible may “re-register” 
without examination and thus continue his eligibility for appoint- 
ment for another three months. No name, however, may remain 
on the list “which on the first day of January, April, July, or 
October has been carried thereon for six months.” 

Somewhat greater latitude of choice is permitted the appoint- 
ing officer in making appointments in the labor class than in the 
competitive class. Under the rule now in effect, the 10 names 
standing highest on the list are certified for a single vacancy, and, 
if more than one vacancy is to be filled at one time, five names 
are certified for each additional vacancy ; but no single certification 
may contain more than 100 names. Unlike the rule for the 
competitive class, however, the rule governing appointments 
in the labor class does not limit the number of times a name may 
be certified to the same appointing officer for the same or a similar 
position. In emergencies, when it is not practicable to secure 
laborers from the commission’s lists with sufficient promptness, 
or when the lists are temporarily exhausted, the appointing offi- 
cer may employ any available persons as laborers, subject to the 
subsequent approval of the commission.* Laborers so employed, 


2In May, 1924, after this report was in the printer’s hands, the civil 
service commission amended its rules governing the labor class. Under 
the amended rules, which went into effect on May 29, 1924, labor appli- 
cants always are examined for physical fitness at the time of application, 
the provision for quarterly physical fitness tests being omitted; re-regis- 
tration at the end of a three-month period is no longer necessary; and 
the restriction on the number of names that may be certified for ap- 
pointment has been removed, so that now the entire list is available to 
the appointing officer. These changes give the operating officials greater 
latitude than they had under the old rules. 


*The privilege of emergency appointments has been used thus far to 
only a very slight degree. 


76 


however, cannot be retained in the service more than 30 days, 
and must give way to regular appointees as soon as the commis- 
sion is able to furnish laborers from its lists. 

Substantially the same rules govern transfers, reinstatements, 
and removals in the labor class as in the competitive class. Un- 
skilled laborers, however, may not be transferred or promaus to 
positions in the competitive class. 


No Changes Proposed for Competitive Class 


It is now in order to consider whether it is desirable to make 
any changes in the employment procedure just described, and, 1f 
so, to outline briefly what those changes ought to be. Should the 
commission continue the same control that it now maintains over 
employment in the street-cleaning service? Should this control be 
relaxed somewhat, or should it be increased? Only incidental con- 
sideration can be given to the technique employed by the commis- 
sion in exercising its control. 

There appears to be no need for a change in the competitive 
class. That part of the street-cleaning organization which falls 
within this class is not essentially different from other branches 
of the city service in the same class. The rules of the commission 
governing the competitive class, moreover, are substantially the 
same as those in effect in other large cities, and are the result of 
long and varied experience.* 


Conflicting Viewpoints on Labor Class 


In the employment of unskilled laborers, however, the rela- 
tions between the commission and the street-cleaning service pre- 
sent a more difficult problem. There are those who feel that the 
operating officials, who are confronted with the necessity of main- 
taining at full strength an enormous corps of unskilled workers, 
should have the greatest possible freedom of action: some would 
go so far as to remove all control by the commission over the 
employment of street-cleaning laborers; others would simply lessen 
somewhat the restrictions now imposed by civil-service rules. On 
the other hand, there is the fear that any relaxing of control by 
the commission would open the way for political favoritism and a 


*The civil service commission is to be commended for the efficient 
manner in which it assisted the street-cleaning division in building up the 
supervisory organization of the street-cleaning service in 1922. 


77 


lowering of the standards of fitness. Which of these attitudes 
should be given the greater weight cannot be determined offhand. 


Argument of the Operating Officials 

The argument most strongly urged in behalf of the operating 
officials is that gaps in the labor ranks could be filled more ex- 
peditiously without the intervention of the commission. Under 
the commission’s rules, it is pointed out, many procedural steps are 
necessary to add a new worker to the force. First a requisition 
must be sent to the commission; then the commission must certify 
to the department the required number of names of labor eligibles; 
then notices must be sent to these eligibles to report to the proper 
departmental official; thereupon several days may elapse before 
the men to whom the notices were sent actually present themselves, 
and when they do appear they may decline appointment on ac- 
count of the remoteness of the place of work from their homes 
or for other reasons. Most of this delay, so the advocates of 
greater freedom for the operating officials feel, might be avoided 
if these officials were given a free hand to employ any suitable 
persons who might offer their services. 


Expedition in Recruiting Not Only Need—Physical Tests 


Expedition in recruiting laborers, however, is not the only 
consideration. At least equally important is some means of pro- 
tecting the city from the employment of persons who are physi- 
cally unfit for the work, and who are peculiarly liable to become a 
financial burden under the workmen’s compensation act. The 
physical examination given by the medical examiner of the civil 
service commission now serves as such a means. It would be 
possible, to be sure, for the department of public works to retain 
a medical examiner of its own, or to require labor applicants to 
present health certificates from their personal physicians or from 
physicians designated by the department. None of these arrange- 
ments, however, seems to have the merits of the one now in effect. 
None of them would centralize responsibility for physical exam- 
inations in one agency nor make it as easy to enforce uniform re- 
quirements for labor applicants in all departments as does the 
present plan. So long, moreover, as labor applicants are ex- 
amined at all, there is bound to be some delay in recruitment, no 
matter by whom the examinations are given. 


78 


Exemption from Civil-Service Control Dubious 


It might be suggested that, while the commission ought to con- 
tinue to examine laborers for physical fitness, it ought not to exer- 
cise any other control over labor appointments. This, too, how- 
ever, is a dubious proposal. Little time would be gained by per- 
mitting the departments themselves to maintain lists of qualified 
labor applicants, for the only procedural steps this would elimi- 
nate are the requisition for laborers by the department and the 
certification of eligibles by the commission, neither of which makes 
for much delay. Nor does the limitation of the number of names 
that may be certified for a single vacancy seem unduly restrictive. 
Whereas the appointing officer is permitted to reject nine out of 
ten names for a single vacancy, and may pass over four out of 
every five additional names if more than one vacancy is to be filled, 
it appears that in actual practice more than 50 per cent of the labor- 
ers whose names have been certified for street-cleaning work have 
been appointed.’ The commission, moreover, has stricken from the 
list the names of all labor eligibles who have failed to respond to 
notices to report for work, thus averting unnecessary delay in se- 
curing workers from future certifications. During times of labor 
shortage, when a waiting list of eligible laborers could not be- 
‘maintained, it has been the practice of the commission to examine 
laborers physically either immediately after the filing of their 
applications or within one day thereafter, and then, if they passed 
the test, to send them immediately to the offices of the division of 
street cleaning for assignment to the various street-cleaning dis- 
tricts. In emergencies, such as a heavy snowfall, the street-clean- 
ing officials may avail themselves of the emergency clause in the 
civil-service rules which permits of the employment of any avail- 
able laborers for a period not exceeding 30 days. Compliance 


"According to the records of the civil service commission of the 359 
eligibles certified during January, February, and March, 1922, from the list 
of “laborer (driver),” 261, or 72.7 per cent of the total number, were ap- 
pointed. During this same period, 468, or 70.3 per cent of the 666 street- 
cleaning laborers certified, were appointed. These were months of labor 
surplus. One year later there was a labor shortage, but the ratio of ap- 
pointments to certifications still remained high. Of the 260 eligibles certi- 
fled from the “laborer (driver)” list published January 1, 1923, 180, or 
66.9 per cent, were appointed. From a list of street-cleaning laborers pub- 
lished at the same time, 282 eligibles were certified, and of this number 
158,. or 56 per cent, were appointed. 


79 


with the commission’s requirements relating to transfers and re- 
movals entails little more than keeping the commission currently 
informed 6f the actions taken by the departmental officials. Since 
most removals from the street-cleaning labor service are on ac- 
count of failure to report for work, it is no great task to specify 
the reasons for removal as the civil-service law requires. The 
rule governing reinstatements does nothing more than give pref- 
erence in appointment to laborers formerly in the city’s service 
but laid off on account of lack of work. Since laborers are seldom, 
if ever, laid off in large numbers in the street-cleaning service, this 
rule has little effect upon the freedom of action of the appointing 
powers. On the whole, even if we assume that no positive ad- 
vantages accrue from civil-service control, it is difficult to see how 
its removal would greatly improve the lot of the operating off- 
cials. . 


Positive Advantages of Civil-Service Control 

On the other hand, much is to be said for the retention by 
the commission of the control it now exercises. The importance 
of examining labor applicants for physical fitness, and the advan- 
tage of having this work done under the auspices of the commis- 
sion rather than under that of the various separate departments, 
have already been indicated. By making itself the central office 
for the receipt of labor applications and the custody of labor eli- 
gible lists, the commission is able to direct the stream of appli- 
cants to points of greatest need and to make available to all de- 
partments reserves of workers that might otherwise be pocketed 
in numerous departmental lists. Certification of laborers in the 
order of application not only tends to eliminate favoritism in ap- 
pointment, but serves to instil labor applicants with confidence that, 
once on the list, they need only wait their turn for a notice to 
report for work. That this assurance of a square deal induces 
many laborers to apply for city work who otherwise would not 
do so may hardly be doubted. Finally, so long as the commission 
remains the recruiting agency, the operating officials are relieved 
of the time-consuming annoyance of having to deal directly with 
a continuous flow of applicants for jobs. 


So 


Suggested Changes in the Commission's Practices 

There are ways, however, in which the commission’s present 
requirements and procedure could be improved. Each applicant 
for city employment is required at present to obtain on his 
formal application the signatures of two citizens vouching for 
his character. Such vouchers do not appear necessary on labor 
applications, and probably serve only to indicate the political affil- 
iation of the applicant. If they were omitted, the applicant would 
be saved considerable time and trouble, and, in a period of labor 
shortage, the street-cleaning division would be supplied more 
promptly with new workers. 

The procedure in examining labor applicants for physical fit- 
ness, too, could be changed for the better. At present, all laborers 
seeking employment in departments under civil service must re- 
port to the office of the commission’s medical examiner for exam- 
ination. This does well enough in times of labor surplus. When 
there is a labor shortage, however, laborers are less inclined to 
make the trip to city hall to undergo the physica!-fitness test, 
and the district superintendents are more likely to find gaps in the 
ranks when the street-cleaning workers assemble at the various 
stables in the morning. At such times it would be a great con- 
venience to the district superintendents if they could hire on the 
spot any able-bodied men who might present themselves, and not 
be obliged first to send them to city hall for physical examination. 
Why not have a medical examiner from the commission go to 
the stables and examine the men there? This need not be done 
every morning, but only on those mornings when the districts are 
short of men and applicants are at the stables ready to take the 
places of those who failed to report for work. A telephone call 
from the district superintendent early in the morning would serve 
to summon the medical examiner to the place of need. Laborers 
applying at the offices of the commission, moreover, ought always, 
during a period of labor shortage, to find it possible to be exam- 
ined physically immediately after the filing of their applications. 
The occasional day’s delay to which they are now subjected ought 
to be avoided. By these slight changes in the practices of the 
commission, the recruiting of laborers could be facilitated without 
weakening in any respect the safeguards against the employment 
of incompetent persons, and without sacrificing any of the ad- 
vantages of centralized employment control. 


SI 


ADEQUACY OF COMPENSATION 


The second phase of the street-cleaning employment problem 
that has an important bearing upon the competence and morale 
of the workers is that of compensation. In dealing with this 
phase of the subject, attention will be focused entirely on the 
question of the adequacy of present rates of pay in the street- 
cleaning division. 


Tests of Adequacy 


No hard and fast conclusions can be reached as to what con- 
stitutes an adequate wage for any given class of workers, but 
certain tests of the reasonableness of existing rates of pay may 
be applied. These tests are as follows: 


1. Comparing the city’s rates of pay with current rates in 
private establishments in Philadelphia. 


2. Comparing Philadelphia’s present rates with those paid in 
street-cleaning services of other cities, and 


3. Comparing the city’s rates of pay with the cost of main- 
taining a given standard of living at present prices. 


Unfortunately these tests cannot be applied to the entire 
street-cleaning payroll. Many positions in the street-cleaning 
service are now so peculiar to municipal employment that corre- 
sponding positions cannot be found in private business establish- 
ments. Again, because of lack of uniformity in organization and 
in titles of positions in municipal street-cleaning services, a com- 
parison of the salaries of supervisory and clerical employes in 
different cities is hardly possible. Finally, the standards of living 
that have been worked out in such a way that their current cost 
can be readily ascertained are all applicable exclusively to manual 
workers and are not suitable as a basis for determining the ade- 
quacy of the salaries of professional and administrative officials. 
As a result, the tests enumerated above can be applied only to cer- 
tain large groups of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled laborers. 
These, however, make up the great bulk of the street-cleaning 
force. 


82 


City’s Pay Compared with Private Pay 


When compared with current wages in private establishments 
in Philadelphia, the city’s rates appear a trifle low. In the following 
table the hourly rates of 11 different classes of manual work- 
ers in the division of street-cleaning are compared with the aver- 
age hourly rates of similar workers in a number of large private 
corporations of this city. Seven of these classes of workers, it 
will be observed, receive higher wages in private establishments 
than under the city government. Especially noteworthy is the 
fact that the average hourly rate of unskilled laborers is four 
cents higher in private employ than in the division of street clean- 
ing, for most of the street-cleaning workers are included in the 
classification of unskilled laborers. The city, moreover, pays only 
the regular rate for overtime work, whereas many of the private 
employers allow time and half-time and even double time for 
such work. 


TABLE V-1 


COMPARISON OF RATES OF PAY IN PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS IN 
PHILADELPHIA WITH THE City’s RATES IN 1923 


Number ot Average hourly 
Classes of workers private con- rate in pri- Hourly rate 
cerns reporting | vate concerns paid by city 
Blacksmiths 276 <e.255 eee 13 $0.76 $0.69 7 
Blacksmiths’ helpers ..... II 52 56 
Bricklayers oso... 422) = <te 5 75 63? 
Carpenters ji5.. 6s. ae mee 13 JI 628 
Harnessmakers ........+% ) 62 as 
Horseshoers. 2:gcceiye +4528 2 69 75 
Motor mechanics ........ 8 73 .69* 
Paintersieyes seen wes secs 12 .70 Bikes 
Truck drivers ns tn os ea es 10 53 .50 
Wheelwrights =i... 5aee I .69 75 
Unskilled laborers ....... 12 45 39° 


*Increased to 72 cents in budget for 1924. 
* Increased to 69 cents in budget for 1924. 
* Increased to 41 cents in budget for 1924. 


City's Pay Compared with Rates Paid in Other Cities 


From a comparison of the rates of pay in the street-cleaning 
services of our larger cities it would appear that Philadelphia is 
the least liberal among them. The cities besides Philadelphia in- 
cluded in this comparison are New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Mil- 
waukee, and Newark. For every one of the 11 classes of 


83 


workers whose rates were compared, the average rate of pay of 
the other cities is higher than the rate in Philadelphia. In fact, 
in 1923, all but three of these classes were more poorly paid in 
Philadelphia than in any one of the other cities. The table show- 
ing this comparison follows: 


TABLE V-2 


CoMPARISON OF PHILADELPHIA’S RATES oF PAY WitTH THOSE OF 
OTHER CITIES IN 1923 


Philadel- Other Cities 
Classes of workers PON ia Geo eh es Tee To eae 
Average |New York] Chicago |St. Louis als tag Newark 
Blacksmiths....) $0.69*! $0.91 | $1.00 | $1.10 | $0.90 | $0.72 | $0.83 
Pine y 
elpers:\;...... 5 -70 Ws .98 .70 58 a 
Bricklayers .... Of) Oye ia x ay 1.50 125 82 
Carpenters ..... BAe Fy Oty Piz} °° t.26 1.25 1.00 .03 
Harnessmakers. 75 84 1.05 fe a 74 72 
Horseshoers.... 75 83 3 me as oe 83 
Motor me- 
chanics 2.—.:.. 697 .92 1.125 1.10 a2 .67 79 
Paititersromie. » « 637} 1.04 125) {10 1.125 72 1.125 
Truck drivers .. 50 71 .68 84 “ .60 ik 
Wheelwrights . 75 04 1.125 7. 85 Ay 83 
Unskilled la- 
borers:* ss92.. 39° “ES 63 62 .40 .50 47 


*Increased to 72 cents in budget for 1924. 

? Increased to 69 cents in budget for 1924. 

* Increased to 41 cents in budget for 1924. 

*The rates given for Philadelphia, Chicago, and Newark are the aver- 
age of a sliding scale of pay. 


City’s Pay Compared with the Cost of Living 

Finally, a comparison of the city’s pay with the cost of liv- 
ing indicates that the city is none too generous as an employer. 
According to its most recent survey of the cost of living, the 
Bureau of Municipal Research of Philadelphia has found that, at 
prices obtaining in March, 1923, the annual cost of maintaining 
a workingman’s family of five persons in health and decency was 
$1,854.28. From March to September, 1923, the cost of living 


®See Citizens’ Business No. 567, issued April 5, 1923, and entitled “The 
Cost of a Workingmen’s Standard of Living in Philadelphia at March, 
1923, Prices.” The family of five assumed in this survey is composed of 
the two parents, a boy of 13, a girl of 10, and a boy of 6. This survey is 
based upon a more comprehensive study made in 1917-18, the results of 
which were published in book form by the MacMillan Company in 1919 
under the the caption “Workingmen’s Standard of Living in Philadelphia.” 


84 


advanced 2.6 per cent, thus increasing the annual cost of main- 
taining such a standard of living to approximately $1,900. If 
we assume a working year of 313 days, it would require a wage 
of $6.07 a day to equal this annual cost. The overwhelming ma- 
jority of per-diem street-cleaning workers, however, receive a 
wage of less than six dollars a day. In fact, 96 per cent of them 
receive less than five dollars a day, and g1 per cent receive less 
than four dollars." 


High Turnover in the Labor Service 


As might be expected under these circumstances, the turn- 
over in the street-cleaning labor service has been high During 
1922, there were 1,730 separations, exclusive of those of 216 la- 
borers who were dropped because they were not citizens of the 
United States. Since the average unskilled labor force of the 
street-cleaning division was about 2,850,° it would appear that 
the year’s turnover was approximately 60 per cent. In 1923 the 
turnover was about 58 per cent, still much higher than it should 
be. , 


The Need of City-Wide Standardization of Pay 


The obvious need for upward revision of the street-cleaning 
wage scale suggests the larger need of salary and wage adjust- 
ment throughout the entire city service. Employes doing the same 
work ought to receive the same pay, regardless of their depart- 
mental location. If, for example, the city pays carpenters in the 
street-cleaning division from $6.50 to $7.00 for an eight-hour day, 
then it should pay carpenters in all other branches of the city 
service from $6.50 to $7.00 for an eight-hour day. To do other- 
wise would be unfair and would disturb morale. It is in recogni- 
tion of this principle of fair dealing that the civil service com- 
mission is directed by the new charter to classify all city positions 


"This statement is based on the budget authorization for 1923. It 
should be noted also that many of the per-diem employes work overtime 
and thus increase their daily wage beyond the rates fixed in the budget. 

On April 13, 1923, the citizenship requirement for laborers was 
waived by the civil service commission. 

"Including unskilled laborers in the garbage-reduction pliant. 


85 


according to duties, and to recommend to the mayor and council 
standard rates of pay for all the various classes. Unfortunately, 
this charter mandate has not been fully carried out. In 1920, it 
is true, the commission prepared a classification of positions ac- 
cording to duties, and recommended standard rates of pay to the 
mayor and council, but neither the mayor nor council accepted 
these recommendations, and no further recommendations have 
since been made. The result is that most of the numerous inequali- 
ties in compensation that were found to exist in the service when 
the commission submitted its classification report have continued 
to exist to the present time. That these inequalities should be cor- 
rected without further delay requires no argument. The commis- 
sion ought to bring its report of 1920 up to date, modifying where 
necessary the classification of positions and revising its schedule 
of standard rates of pay. The mayor and council would then 
have a comprehensive and uniform plan for adjusting salaries 
and wages, not only in the street-cleaning division, but in all other 
branches of the service as well. Such a plan would enable the city 
to meet its obligations to the underpaid street-cleaning workers 
without discriminating against employes in other divisions, bu- 
reaus, and departments doing the same kind of work. 


Tentative Recommendations for Street-Cleaning Workers 


Realizing that recommendations as to rates of pay in the 
street-cleaning division ought to be made only as part of a more 
comprehensive plan of classification and compensation, the Bu- 
reau of Municipal Research does not venture in this report to do 
more than advance a few tentative suggestions that may prove 
helpful in a general revision of the city’s payroll. For the adminis- 
trative officials, the professional staff, and the office employes of 
the street-cleaning organization, no recommendations at all are 
here attempted. The only classes of workers for which even ten- 
tative wage proposals are submitted are those which were in- 
cluded in the various comparisons made earlier in this chapter. 
Numerically, however, these classes are far more important than 
those not included, for they comprise more than 93 per cent of 
all the employes in the street-cleaning division. Below are the 
Bureau’s tentative recommendations: 


86 


Recommended rates 


Classes of workers 1924 rates 
Minimum Maximum 
iBlacksauths:.. ofan aa $5.50-$6.00 $6.50 $7.00 
‘Blacksmiths’ helpers ..... 4.50 5.00 5.50 
Bricklayers’ oe cnies sir 5.50 6.50 7.00 
Carpenterst: if) 28 tes phe ee 5.50 6.50 7.00 
Wlarnessmakers. 20. ae 6.00 5.50 6.00 
TIGESESTIORTS: Gare alae 6.00 6.00 6.50 
Motor mechanics ........ 5.50- 6.00 6.00 6.50 
PAinters Foe eek) ees 5.50 6.00 6.50 
TTWCK CHIVEDS eee 4.00 4.50 5.00 
Wheelwrights ........... 6.00 6.00 6.50 
Unskilled laborers ....... 2:1 5> 3-75 3.60 4.50 


GENERAL WORKING CONDITIONS 


Last to be considered are the general working conditions of 
employes: the hours of work, vacations, holidays, sick leaves, 
and provision for retirement. These vitally affect morale. It is 
pertinent, therefore, to inquire briefly whether the working con- 
ditions in the street-cleaning division compare favorably or un- 
favorably with conditions prevailing elsewhere. 


Hours of Work 

The formal hours for office workers in the street-cleaning 
division are the same as in other city-hall offices, and appear lib- 
eral in comparison with those observed in private business estab- 
lishments. Employes are expected to be on hand at 9 A, M,, 
and, when their work permits, may leave for the day at 4 P. M. 
One hour is allowed for lunch. On Saturday the offices close at 
12 noon. In private business establishments office workers are 
usually required to start at 9 A. M. and continue until 5 p. M., with 
an hour’s intermission for lunch. The half-holiday on Saturday, 
however, is quite common in offices of all kinds. 

Laborers, both skilled and unskilled, who are employed by 
the day, are treated less generously. For them the standard work- 
day consists of eight hours. On account of a great deal of over- 
time employment, especially of unskilled laborers, the actual 
work-day is perhaps closer to nine hours than eight. The city, to 
be sure, pays per-diem workers for overtime, but only at the 
regular rates. Before the days of municipal street cleaning, per- 
diem employes in the bureau of highways, as well as in other 
bureaus of the department of public works, were granted a Sat- 
urday half-holiday with pay; but since January 1, 1921, the half- 


87 


holiday with pay has been abolished. At present, the standard 
work-week for these employes is 48 hours. 

It would be difficult to say whether these conditions are more 
or less favorable than those prevailing in private establishments in 
Philadelphia. Of 10 large local corporations which responded to 
inquiries as to their working conditions for unskilled laborers, 
two reported a standard work-day of ten hours, four of nine 
hours, and four of eight hours. In six of these ten concerns, the 
standard work-week was only five and one-half days as compared 
with the six-day standard work-week for street-cleaning laborers. 
Five concerns allow time and half-time for overtime, the other 
five allowing only “straight” time. The reports of working-time 
for skilled laborers were so nearly like those for unskilled laborers 
that the latter may be considered typical of both. While no sweep- 
ing generalization can be made from these facts, it seems fair 
to conclude that our city government is by no means at the head 
of the procession of local employers in shortening the work-day 
for manual workers. 

In the other large cities from which information as to wages 
and conditions of employment was obtained, street-cleaning work- 
ers appear to have more favorable hours than in Philadelphia. 
New York City has established the 44-hour week for practically 
all the skilled workers in its street-cleaning department, although 
its standard work-week for unskilled laborers is still 48 hours. 
The city pays 50 per cent above the regular rate for overtime. 
In Chicago, the hours for street-cleaning laborers, both skilled and 
unskilled, are the same as in New York, but Chicago pays double 
the regular rate for overtime. Most of the skilled laborers in 
the bureau of street cleaning in Newark, N. J., work eight hours 
the first five days of the week and only four hours on Saturday. 
Unskilled laborers, however, fare no better there than in Phila- 
delphia. In Milwaukee, the hours of work are practically the 
same as in Philadelphia for both skilled and unskilled street- 
cleaning laborers. 

Only slight changes in the hours of work in the street-clean- 
ing division appear to be necessary. Office workers might well 
be required to remain-regularly at their tasks until 4.30 or 5 P. M. 
on all working days except Saturdays. This would be more in 
conformity with the prevailing practice of the community. On the 
other hand, so far as possible, per-diem employes should be al- 


88 


lowed a half-holiday on Saturday, as was done prior to 1921, and 
as is done now by many private employers in Philadelphia and 
by other city governments. Overtime work by per-diem em- 
ployes should be discourged. Like adjustments in compensation, 
however, these changes would make for greater equity and better 
morale if introduced in all departments of the city government 
simultaneously. 


Vacations 


The city’s policy in granting vacations has been neither gen- 
erous nor niggardly. Salaried workers in the street-cleaning di- 
vision are allowed one day’s vacation, with pay, for each month of 
service up to a maximum of 12 days. Per-diem employes are al- 
lowed one-half day’s vacation, with pay, for each month of ser- 
vice up to a maximum of six days. In private business concerns, 
a vacation of 12 working days, with pay, for salaried workers is 
quite usual. Most private employers, however, appear to be less 
liberal than our city government in their vacation allowance to 
skilled and unskilled laborers. Of the 13 local corporations from 
which reports on this subject were received, only one grants any 
vacation whatever to manual workers. This one, however, allows 
as much as two weeks’ vacation to employes who have been in 
the service for 10 years, a shorter annual leave being permitted 
to those whose length of service for the company has been less 
than 10 years. In the street-cleaning services of the large cities 
with which other comparisons have been made, the practice varies. 
New York City allows three weeks with pay to both skilled and 
unskilled laborers; Chicago allows 11 days; Milwaukee allows 15 
days to skilled workers who are paid by the month or by the 
year, but grants no vacation at all to per-diem manual workers; 
and Newark allows two weeks to nearly all skilled laborers, but 
none to unskilled laborers. 

There does not appear to be any need for changing Phila- 
delphia’s present practice. 


Holidays 


As a branch of the city government, the street-cleaning divi- 
sion is permitted to observe all the legal holidays, but in actual 
practice a more conservative policy is followed. The offices of 
the division are completely closed to the public only on Christmas 


89 


Day and the Fourth of July. Other legal holidays observed by 
such part of the office force as can be spared are New Year’s 
Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, 
Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Armi- 
stice Day, and Thanksgiving Day. Per-diem workers are al- 
lowed only three holidays: Christmas Day, the Fourth of July, 
and Labor Day. Part of the labor force always is on duty, but 
the men who work on these days are given time off with pay on 
other days. 

A wide variety of practice in observing holidays may be 
found among employers, both private and public. Office workers 
in private concerns are usually allowed the more important holi- 
days, such as Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, the Fourth of 
July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving Day. In banks, all the legal 
holidays are observed. Skilled and unskilled laborers, however, 
fare not quite so well. Only two of the 13 local private employers 
from whom reports were received allow these classes of workers 
any holidays with pay. One of them grants seven holidays and 
the other all calendar holidays. Among four cities, New York, 
Chicago, Milwaukee, and Newark, none except Newark accords 
holiday privileges to manual workers. In the street-cleaning ser- 
vice of that city, most of the skilled laborers are granted six holi- 
days with pay, but none are given to unskilled laborers. 

In view of the general practice of other employers, the city 
government would hardly appear justified in liberalizing much 
further the policy in granting holidays now followed in the street- 
cleaning division. It is suggested, however, that a slight increase 
in the number of holidays allowed with pay to per-diem workers 
might be a good investment in morale. 


Sick Leave 


Sick leave with pay in the street-cleaning division is confined 
almost entirely to salaried employes. It has been the practice to 
pay these employes at the full rate during absences on account of 
sickness not exceeding 30 days. Under a resolution of councils 
approved July 15, 1913, the director of the department of public 
works has the power to accord the same treatment to per-diem 
workers, but this is done only in extraordinary circumstances, 

The city’s policy in this respect seems to be quite in conform- 
ity with general practice. Office workers and other salaried em- 


go 


ployes usually receive greater consideration in time of sickness 
than workers by the day. This is true in private business con- 
cerns, and also in other municipal services. Only one of the 13 
local corporations from which reports were received allows sick 
leave with pay to manual workers, and these workers happened 
to be paid by the week. None of the four large cities previously 
referred to grants sick leave with pay to the skilled and unskilled 
laborers in their street-cleaning services. 

While the prevailing practice hardly justifies the city in adopt- 
ing a more generous policy with reference to sick leave than it 
now follows, the question still arises whether a more generous 
policy toward per-diem workers might not materially reduce the 
labor turnover and stimulate morale. The length of sick leave 
permitted with pay might well be varied according to the length 
of service of the worker. 


Provision for Retirement 

By an act of the general assembly approved May 20, 1915, 
provision is made for pensioning and retiring city and county 
employes of Philadelphia who are not taken care of by other pen- 
sion funds. The employes of the division of street cleaning are 
covered by this act. It provides that persons who have been in 
the employ of the city or county for 20 years may receive a pen- 
sion of one-half their average monthly salary of the last five 
years of their employment, but no pension shall exceed $100 a 
month. Employes are required to pay 2 per cent of their monthly 
salary into the pension fund, but no contribution need be more 
than four dollars a month. These dues are supplemented by 
appropriations by the city council. The act is mandatory upon 
salaried employes, but optional with per-diem workers. Thus far, 
less than a dozen of the per-diem workers have availed themselves 
of the provisions of the act. 

Although this retirement system is far from perfect, it is 
nevertheless of real advantage to the city and to the employes. It 
enables the city, without inflicting undue hardship, to remove from 
the service persons who on account of age or other disability 
have ceased to be useful or have greatly declined in efficiency. 
To the employes, it gives assurance that they will not be left 
wholly without economic support in their declining years. That 
up to the present so few per-diem workers have shown interest 


QI 


in the fund is unfortunate, but as time goes on and the street- 
cleaning labor service becomes more stabilized, more of them 
doubtless will do so. 

It is not possible, in this brief report, to analyze the retire- 
ment act applying to Philadelphia and to propose changes that 
may be desirable. The suggestion is made, however, that per- 
diem workers be encouraged in every possible way to avail them- 
selves of the benefits of this act. 


CONCLUSION 
General Appraisal 

Viewed from all angles, the city’s handling of the street- 
cleaning employment problem has been, in the main, in accord- 
ance with good practice. By placing the entire labor force, as 
well as the supervisory and office organization, under civil-service 
control, the city has assured itself of reasonable standards of fit- 
ness in the personnel of the service. The civil service commis- 
sion has exercised its control with moderation, and has made 
commendable efforts to facilitate the recruiting of laborers. With 
a few exceptions, the working conditions in the street-cleaning 
division are as favorable as may be found in the average private 
or public service, and are conducive to good morale rather than 
depressing. 

In certain respects, however, there have been shortcomings. 
Perhaps the most serious of these is the inadequate wage scale 
now in effect in the street-cleaning division. No doubt, the high 
turnover in the labor force is largely due to the low wages paid 
by the city. The hours of work for the skilled and unskilled 
laborers, especially for the latter, seem unnecessarily long and 
exacting. This condition, too, may have something to do with 
the high labor turnover. In the field of recruiting, there still 
remain a few avoidable obstacles to speedy induction of new 
workers into the service. 


Summary of Recommendations 
To overcome these and other shortcomings, the following 
recommendations are made: 
1. That the character vouchers be omitted from labor 
applications, 


Q2 


2. That, in times of labor shortage, applicants for labor 
positions be examined for physical fitness immediately after 
the filing of their applications. 


3. That, in the absence of labor eligible lists, applicants 
who present themselves at street-cleaning stables where men 
are urgently needed, be examined for physical fitness at those 
stables instead of being sent to the offices of the civil service 
commission for examination. 


4. That the wage scale of street-cleaning workers be re- 
vised upward as part of a more comprehensive program of 
classification of positions and standardization of pay. 


5. That the formal closing time in city-hall offices be 
changed from 4 P. M. to 4.30 or 5 P. M. 


6. That, so far as practicable, per-diem employes be 
allowed a half-holiday on Saturday. 


7, That a slight increase be made in the number of holi- 
days with pay allowed to per-diem workers. 


8. That a more generous sick leave policy be adopted 
toward per-diem workers. 


9g. That per-diem workers be encouraged to avail them- 
selves of the benefits of the retirement act. 


CHAPTER) VI 


FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS 


While service, rather than cost, shouid be the criterion by 
which the results of the municipal street-cleaning operations 
should be judged, cost is, nevertheless, an important considera- 
tion. At this time, however, the public is looking for satisfactory 
results from municipal street cleaning, and it is with the cost of 
adequate and satisfactory service that we are concerned, and not 
with the lowest cost at which a pretense of doing the work might 
be made. The cost should be as low as js consistent with secur- 
ing the desired results, for if money can be saved on street clean- 
ing, just so much more will be available for other municipal ser- 
vices, or just so much smaller will be the taxpayers’ burden. 


Cost oF MuNICIPAL OPERATION 


In an endeavor to ascertain the exact cost to the taxpayers, 
the Bureau of Municipal Research made a study of the expendi- 
tures applicable to street cleaning’ during 1921 and 1922. It 
was easy to find out the expenditures from appropriations made 
to the street-cleaning division. Some expenditures for street-clean- 
ing purposes, however, were made out of other appropriations; 
and the exact amount of these was not easy to ascertain. Although 
fairly comprehensive records have been maintained in the street- 
cleaning division, and rather voluminous reports have been pre- 
pared from them to guide the administrative officials, these rec- 
ords and reports do not always show the relations between trans- 
actions and appropriations. Furthermore, because of incomplete 
records of the division’s plant and equipment, it was difficult to 
calculate how much depreciation should be included as part of the 
cost of the street-cleaning work. It was necessary to piece to- 
gether the various fragments of information secured, to set up 
a record of assets in summarized form, and to figure deprecia- 
tion from this summary. While for the present purpose an ap- 
proximately accurate analysis must suffice, the Bureau has made 
some suggestions for improving the accounting system, which, if 


*Throughout this chapter the term “street cleaning” is used to include 
not only the cleaning of streets, but also the collection and disposal of 
ashes, rubbish, and garbage. It does not, however, include snow removal. 


93 


94 


adopted, should make it much easier to secure accurate informa- 
tion about the cost of street cleaning. These suggestions are em- 
bodied in a memorandum submitted to the department of public 
works on May 15, 1923, a copy of which is included as an appen- 
dix to this report. 

The results of the Bureau’s financial analysis are set forth 
in table VI-1. This table shows, for each appropriation for 
street cleaning, the actual expenditures of 1921 and 1922, and 
also those of 1920 that were in anticipation of municipal work 
in 1921. In 1920, the expenditures totaled $335,087.73, in 1921 
they amounted to $6,927,459.86, and in 1922 they were $5,637,- 
547.97. As each of these totals includes large sums for the ac- 
quisition of real estate and equipment, as well as for operating 
expense, they must be analyzed if they are to be of any real 
value. 

In this table the expenditures have been classified into ex- 
pense and outlays. As this classification had not been made on 
the books of the street-cleaning division, or of the bureau of high- 
ways, it was necessary to work backward from the records of 
the division’s plant and equipment, in order to ascertain the 
amount of outlays made from the several appropriations. The 
expenditures have also been classified to show how much of each 
item is applicable to each of the two years 1921 and 1922. Thus, 
all the expenditures of 1920 have been charged against 1921, and 
$455,675.35 of the 1921 expenditures, having been made primar- 
ily in preparation for city-wide municipal operation in 1922, have 
been charged against the latter year. Adjustments in the ex- 
pense totals have been made for the value of forage received 
from the model farm, for materials and supplies on hand at the 
beginning and at the end of a year, for bills paid in one year for 
services or supplies consumed in the previous year, and for over- 
head costs not included in the division’s records. Credit has been 
given for the receipts from sales of manure, hides, discarded equip- 
ment, scrap of all kinds, and by-products from the garbage-reduc- 
tion plant. The value of services supplied to the highway division, 
or to other bureaus and departments, has been credited to the 
extent that it was ascertainable. Depreciation of plant and equip- 
ment, figured at the rates shown in table VI-2, has been 
added as part of the expense. The rates of depreciation used 
are believed to be ample, and are based very largely on the ex- 


item 


Total 


or H: 
“ 
“cc cn 
6c ‘a 
“cs \ ee 
“es Chat} 


ee o- 


$455,675.35 


$3,641,001.26 
116,704.10 


106,648.22 
232,218.60 


$455,675.35 


9,203.41 


Expense 


$76,085.83 


$76,085.83 


_ $3,575,733.39 


116,704.10 


9,203.41 
106,648.22 


157,370.17 


Expenditures applicable to 1922 


Outlays 


$370,580.52 


$379,580.52 


$65,267.87 


ee, 


ee 


74,842.43, 


TABLE Vier 


SUMMARY oF ExpENpITURES FOR STREET CLEANING DurRING THE YEARS 192I AND 1922 


AOS ice. re ic. — 
7 item : Purpose Expenditures made Expenditures applicable to 1921 Expenditures applicable to 1922 
= — during the year Total Expense Outlays Total Expense Outlays 
% 1920 and 1921 
motes El: AS ; : : 
oe ree Personal UCT RASS) Ie Ree $920,292.31 $920,292.31 $920,292.31 S yy te By 
“ = 2 a8” ORCA MEMES Rese ORCT CaCO I ORCA ERAT? (at ee eMn ee seem ane ie 10 cts, ih = 7 s % ene ee 
4 se eatin SCLMICCmmeyaretr eete a tse fee 2 eS o ee ; : 
ontract street 1 Bad or ae CEC RE CDS SON Tera BCH SOY CCRC ETE ha eee tara ie . x i 82 783. 
“ REM Carhase eae ere SEA See ee ee ee ed 3,892,009.13 3,892,009. 13 3,8092,000.13 
i co ieee Ree OS age ae ee 494,87 1.00 494,871.00 494,871.00 
“ 54 lest roce are NER AES Mane Weeds Malaika Amputee serie che Keen. ala 109,997.07 109,997.67 100,997.07 
z ‘ Wl cecnod Sone aa oen tore er eeenne eae ee 2,705.1 2,765.1 2,765 
Saar 55 Electric current ........ es ie 8 ae 
5 POLI ERO ORE IGA 5 Oe CoP RY Ye oe ENERO SCTE ee aR eRe romaine 7 5 POL 
és i Supplies and LG GE 6 ong eee ee a anaes 192,317.30 nes trae Phe as 
Rerok. i: ; chins lle ce = ES ea Carn eres ten, 124,661.62 124,661.62 124,061.62 es 
“ ‘aan s ay buildings, etc; Bi Mre Ss Such ie te Tait GaMescon oflar'ea mites Volta “erievl ie} ai euieiconm lems neler 370,866.97 1 370,866.97 48,140.72 $328 726.25 
B. of H 205 and, buildings, and equipment ............000 0000007) 500,000.00 500,000.00 500,000.00 
aa ae Jain items with highway division ....................... 75,000.00 * : 75,000.00 7c 000.00 eri Be 2 ae 
m. 6 sl noha so Ak Seoue 6s ¥ eevee, 455,675.35 - ue oe $485,075.35 $76,085.83 $379,589.52 
Total of 1920 and 10921 expenditures ............ $7,262,547.59 $6,806,872.24 $5,078,145.99 $828,726.25 $455,675.35 $76,085.83 $379,589.52 
1922 eeeniegiae. == SaaS So = ae ea as oS ae 
iBerote EH: - & 
” ee Personal SUEEAIRUES Az csc 9 at oe ee ee Ce ate ¢ ad $3,641,001.26 $3,575,733.30 $65,267.87 
2s". A, Bi9g eee ROR OAR eerie es 116,704. &: a . 104- “ie 
a eee metien service Soiea p mie re oe 
¥ ae bas Bisreiialon grounds, éfel uc... ss. sk. 106,648.22 i. a J 106,648.22 106,648.22 x 
7 a5 ee and replacement Oke TECULTNOFISTO 4 wn gos aoenasacan | 232,218.60 ag cs . 232,218.60 157,376.17 74,842.43 
Fe ; Bec CELUI SWISS cee c cd Gace renee a OE ee ee a 2,277.03 = Me 3: 2,277.93 2,277.03 an 
a 5 pcre CE LEU acronis. Hee ne ee wn ae 17,977.05 es EP - 17,077.65 17,977.65 
PA ee a ae VS ras ce oe ede 1,281.82 en a a 1,281.82 1,281.82 
oo ta ae upplies and ESOC Sn on oe a ee Rr ae 578,618.09 sé a, . 578,618.09 578,618.00 
Spt oe hn) Leh eo re ee ee ee 140,052.28 re ake BE: 140,052.28 140,052.28 a8 
= gs a sais ae buildings etc es) 5.0 = “Ginter Crcee cn eet ok oe ah é 4,646.00 bee be a ip re : “99.88 4,455-12 
quipment, etc. .......... fetter mi SAC Roms Aes s oe 700,011.35 ae fs: .. 700,001.35 104,645.86 595,905.49 
Joint items with Bipiiwaye IViStOM sheias,, =, seco 7223125 se ae .. 71,223.25 71,223.25 36 
Deficiency BE DASE Tehel 1 Ot Sta ters Reker eee) ie eg 14,084.01 $14,684.01 $14,684.01 P ee 
Total of 1922 expenditures ...................., $5,637,147.97 $14,684.01 $14,684.01 e. $5,622,463.90 $4,881,933.05 $740,530.91 
Total of 1920, 1921, and 1922 expenditures ...... $12,899,605.56 $6,821,556.25 $5,992,830.00 $828,726.25 $6,078, 130.31 $4,958,018.88 $1, 120,120.43 
Expense additions (exclusive of depreciation and interest) 
pupplics. trom model. farm’ 9. .60s 21.06.40). o00.. ns on, $10,000.00 $10,000.00 
Materials and supplies on hand at beginning of RV EAU Me meacaatc same eer 27,178.16 
Bills paid from succeeding year’s AD OGODRIA Ot merae myer teen te 2,550.81 57,150.15 
Misccllancous sovetherd \) eae ee ee 25,000.00 25,000.00 
Total expense additions (exclusive of depreciation and in- = 
RERESL ) Meshes eo ee are $37,559.81 $119,328.31 
OLN ERR yg CR a oP ea AAP Sec < | eet en nee Oe ee $6,030,380.81 $5,077,347-19 
Expense deductions 
Materials and supplies on hand at end of year................-.. $27,178.16 $125,452.87 
Receipts by purchasing agent for garbage by-products’ .......... 04,105.16 233,859.61 
Miscellancousarccciptsm ewer mr cae ent) nl ees ae Lene oy 11,847.74 
Electric current used by the highway division? .................. _ 6,409.62 
IPN ROIS. HEADS. LeMMS joRMGl <4 255s a0 gan econ anon bs anon enounsaner. a 2,550.81 
oral expense: eductionsmae see ener teen: ake. $122,616.03 $380,120.65 
Total expense (exclusive of depreciation and interest)............... $5,907,773-78 $4,697,217.54 
Depreciation ° ; 
On equipment purchased in 1920 and 1921 (cost $358,726.25)...... $82,443.81 $72,790.81 
On equipment purchased in 1922 (cost $920,189.37) .....-....-..- as 188,261.53 
On garbage-reduction plant (cost $460,000) .......... San po sduuiaee 35,000.00 35,000.00 
On improvements to rented property (cost $109,931.06).......... Se 39,986.21 
sGtalede pretation neccmmtme Ce reete seas tere otesce ccvatsesnels sca sscs vate to $117,443.81 $336,038.55 
Motal-expense (exclusive: of amterest)) c2e.css.ccssscevecsn ase ance $6,025,217.59 5,033.256.09 
Interest ; ; / 
Five per cent on the average investment of city funds in plant : 
And SeCipiment masse ee ee, Ea edb at verses alk ayeley ae $38,500.22 $82,359.18 
Five per cent on the average investment of city funds as working 
Ca piballieey we ateee nines eke cer ea pred aneres er areca ih « ennv aie Mans ec cnduannnu re ates ecale-2 alee 7,500.00 25,000.00 
Oral interest crn cecam et ere crea once cieerisinavn gti ata sine cone $46,000,22 $107,359.18 
AIGA PSE INAS Bees «cet cee ir cecNen eee atone Rese seu crehrt ar epee ale hate Ha7ee term slevestr eet $6,071,217.81 $5,140,615.27 


* $335,087.73 in 1920; $41,779.24 in 1021. 

* Estimated. 

* Estimated value of forage less cost of production. ; 

“Conservative estimate of value of time devoted (but not charged) to strect-cleaning operations by director of public works, chief of highway bureau, pay- 
master of the department of public works, employes of highway division, employes of the director’s office, employes of purchasing agent, and employes of 
civil service commission, together with an allowance for the rental value of offices. ; ; 

* Represents receipts from sales of garbage by-products, not the value of by-products produced. The latter for 1922 is shown in table IV-2. 

® See table VI-2 for computation of depreciation. 


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NOILvlogadaq 40 NOILVINdWO) GNV INAWdINO|Y GNV INVIg 4O AYVWWOAS 
SIA HIGVL 


Classification and rate of 
depreciation on cost 


Motor vehicles 


New Cost 
25%. Dep. 
Boye 
Used Cost 
50% Dep. 
B. v 
Both Cost 
Dep 
Boy 
Horse-drawn vehicles 
New Cost 
124% Dep. 
Bay 
Used Cost 
20% Dep. 
By 
Both Cost 
Dep 
Bow 
Livestock 
15% Cost 


$132,712.50 
33,178.12 


99,534.38 


43,945.00 


18,767.50 * 


25,177.50 


176,657.50 


51,045.62 * 


124,711.88 


49,072.50 
6,134.06 


42,938.44 


EE 


48,430.00 
9,086.00 


38,744.00 


97,502.50 
15,820.00 


81,682.44 


59,790.00 


Losses (cost) 1.340.00 


Dep. 
Bey. 
Horse equipment 
Cost 
2076. Dep. 
by ave 
Snow equipment 
Cost 
1214% Dep. 
Ban ye 
Shop equipment 
1096 
Office equipment 
10% Cost 
Dep. 
Boy. 
Garbage-reduction plant 
Cost 
Dep. 
Baav 


Land and building 
(At 25th Street and 
Sedgley Avenue) 
Cost 


Improvements to rented property 


20% 

ToTAL 
Cost 
Dep.’ 
B.. -y. 


* Depreciation. 


* Book value; that is, cost less depreciation. 
* Book value reduced by $16,200 exchange value of used e 


in 1922, 


58,450.00 
8,707.50 


40,682.50 


19,917.50 
3,983-50 


15,034.00 


4,050.00 
506.25 


35543-75 


425,000.00 


10,000.00 


———_ 


828,726.25 
117,443.81 


711,282.44 


an Vv. 


Dep. 
Be iiv: 


Biv 
Dep. 


Buy: 


B. v. 
Dep. 


Baave 
Bay 
Dep. 
B. ¥. 


Bey. 
Dep. 


B. v. 


Baws 
Dep. 


Bevy: 


B. ¥. 
Losses (b. v.) 
Dep. 
iba ve 
B. yy. 
Dep. 
B. v: 
Bi x, 
Dep: 
B. v. 


B. v. 
Dep. 


B, oy, 


33,178.13 
66,356.25 


8,977.50 ° 


8,077.50 
0.00 


108,511.88 * 
42,155.63 


66,350.25 


42,938.44 
6,134.06 


36,804.38 
38,744.00 
9,686.00 


29,058.00 


81,682.44 
15,820.00 


65,862.38 


49,682.50 
1,793.50 


47,889.00 


8,451.00 
39,438.00 
15,034.00 

3,083.50 


11,950.50 


3,543;75 
506.25 


3,037.50 


425,000.00 
25,000.00 


390,000.00 


10,00.0.00 


695,082.44 
107,790.81 


587,201.63 


Be Ax. 
Cost 
Dep. 
B. v. 


Cost 
Dep. 


Boy: 


Cost 
Dep. 


Boy 


Cost 
Losses (cost) 
Dep. 
B. vy. 
Cost 
Dep. 
iB Oy. 
Cost 
Dep. 
Boa, 
Cost 
Dep. 
B. v. 


Cost 
Dep. 


Be exe 


Cost 


178,240.00 
22,280.00 


155,960.00 


52,057.00 


10,411.40 


41,645.60 


230,297.00 


32,691.40 


197,605.60 


225,084.00 
14,750.00 


210,334.00 


31,550.10 


178,783.00 


60,557.78 
IZ, T1156 


48,446.22 


10,473.00 
2,059.13 


14,413.87 


10,508.56 
1,050.86 


9,457.70 


3,041.85 
304.19 


2,737.66 


199,931.06 
39,986.21 


159,044.85 


1,120,120.43 


228,247.74 


891,872.69 


* Depreciation reduced by $3,205 gained on exchange of used equipment for new equipment in 1922, 
*Including losses of livestock. 


93,744.29 — 
ay oA hy FL 
280,482.89 | 


311,079.44 
48,511.46 


263,467.98 


274,700.50 
16,543.50 


258,223.00 
40,001.10 


218,221.90 
76,491.78 
16,005.06 
60,306.72 


20,016.75 
2,565.38 


17,451.37 
10,508.56 
1,050.86 


9,457.70 
Es, 
3,769.72 
385.06 


3,384.66 
425,000.00 
35,000.00 


390,000.C0 


_— 


10,000.00 


196,031.06 
30,086.21 


‘150,044.85 


1,815,202.87 
336,038.55 


1,479,164.32 


quipment in purchase of new equipment included at full cost 


346,830.14 


95 


perience of 1921 and 1922 in the operation of street-cleaning’ 
plant and equipment. Finally, 5 per cent a year has been charged 
on the average value of the plant and equipment employed during 
the year, and also on an assumed amount of working capital. 

This analysis shows that the total expense of street cleaning 
in 1921, under combined contract and municipal work, was 
$6,071,217.81; and in 1922, under city-wide municipal work, 
$5,140,615.27. This figure for 1922 exceeds by $213,500 the 
$4,927,130.65 which the street-cleaning division has reported as 
the cost for 1922. 


COMPARISON OF MUNICIPAL AND CONTRACT Costs 


The inquiring citizen will want to know at once how the 
costs under city-wide municipal operation compare with those 
under contract work. As bids were not requested for contract 
work in 1922, the cost of municipal operation in 1922 must be 
compared with the cost of contract work of previous years. The 
cost in 1922 was nearly a million dollars less than that of 1921, 
when both contract and municipal work were in operation. Had 
contract bids for 1921 been ‘acceptéd for all 13 districts, instead 
of for only 11, the cost-in. 1921 undoubtedly would have been 
still greater. However, since lower contract bids probably would 
have been submitted for 1922, it should not be assumed that the 
difference in cost between contract work and municipal work in 
1922 would necessarily have been as great as the difference in 
cost between 1922 and 1921. It must be remembered that al- 
though the bids for 1921 contract work were submitted on Sep- 
tember 15, 1920, when price levels had begun to fall rapidly, 
conditions in general were uncertain, and the contractors knew 
that in all probability the year 1921 presented the last opportunity 
for profit in street cleaning. 

Contract bids for the year 1920, though made in the fall of 
1919, when costs were increasing, were submitted under more 
normal conditions. In 1920, under city-wide contract operation, 
the cost of street cleaning was $5,160,874.22.2 This amount, 


?This amount was arrived at with considerable difficulty; but it is be- 
lieved to be approximately correct. On October 22, 1920, the separate 
bureau of street cleaning was discontinued and its activities assumed by 
the bureau of highways. At the same time, some of the unused balances 
of appropriations for street cleaning were consolidated with appropria- 
tions for highway work, and’ information is not available for determining 
the exact expenditures for street cleaning from these appropriations, 


96 


which represents the entire cost of street cleaning in 1920, in- 
cluding overhead as well as the payments made to contractors, is 
$20,000 greater than the cost of full municipal operation in 
1922. 

The cost for the years 1920 and 1922 cannot properly be 
compared without making full allowance for the differences in 
both the quantity and the quality of the work performed. The 
results of street-cleaning operations are intangible, and it is im- 
possible now to inspect and compare the efficiency of operation 
of 1920 and 1922. It is even difficult to attempt to compare the 
quantity of work performed. Generally speaking, the contractors 
collected and disposed of all ashes, rubbish, street dirt, and gar- 
bage, as did the city forces; but the quantity collected by the city 
in 1922 was slightly greater than that collected by the contractors 
in 1920. Furthermore, as has been pointed out in Chapter III, 
the city forces in 1922 cleaned a greater average daily yardage 
of streets than was required under the contract specifications of 
1920. To accomplish this greater task, the city employed a larger 
number of laborers and also increased other collection facili- 
ties. 

Information supplied by the street-cleaning division indicates 
that in 1922 the facilities were approximately 20 per cent greater 
than in 1920. If we may assume that the cost of street cleaning 
would vary in direct proportion to the facilities employed, and 
if, for the moment, we disregard the difference in the price levels 
of 1920 and 1922, it would appear that, had contractors been 
engaged to do the work in 1922, and had they been required to 
provide facilities equivalent to those employed by the city, their 
bids would have been 20 per cent higher than in 1920, and the 
cost to the city would have been about $6,193,000. If this amount 
is reduced 15 per cent to allow for the drop in wages and prices 
that occurred from 1920 to 1922, the cost of doing the work in 
1922 by contract probably would have been about $5,264,000, or 
$123,500 more than the actual cost of municipal work in that 
year. 

Of greater importance, however, than the mere saving in 
money is the fact that municipal work in 1922 gave greater sat- 
isfaction than was ever obtained from contract work, and that a 
commendable start was made in providing a satisfactory plant, 
particularly for refuse disposal. Under the contract method it 


97 


would have been practically impossible to build up such a plant. 
A noteworthy advantage, pointed out by many observers of politi- 
cal conditions in Philadelphia, is the marked lessening of con- 
tractor influence in municipal affairs. 


FINANCIAL CONTROL 


The control exercised over expenditures is, in the main, satis- 
factory; but some improvement is possible. The entire system 
is constantly being extended and bettered in the light of experi- 
ence, 


Payrolls 

Since about 70 per cent of the annual expenditures of the 
division are made through payrolls, their proper control is very 
important. Wages for labor constitute a very high percentage 
of payroll expenditures; and since this labor is employed in 12 
different street-cleaning districts, under the supervision of over 
100 different foremen and sub-foremen, and in 6 plants and 
shops, under their respective foremen, it is obvious that numer- 
ous opportunities for irregular practices exist, and that a watchful 
eye is needed. The foremen and sub-foremen are relied upon for 
the daily time records of the men under their supervision. These 
records are checked and compiled by timekeepers in the respective 
districts, plants, and shops. The men are paid, however, by the 
paymaster’s office of the department of public works, an or- 
ganization separate and distinct from the street-cleaning division. 
Payrolls thus receive an independent check, and, on the whole, 
the payroll procedure appears to work satisfactorily. 


Purchases 

Purchases of equipment, materials, and supplies for the divi- 
sion are required by law to be made by the purchasing agent, but 
in practice many purchases, particularly for equipment, have been 
made directly by the division. When it wishes to purchase some- 
thing out of an appropriation made to the purchasing agent, the 
division draws a requisition upon that official, who then proceeds 
to make the purchase, if it is within both the purpose and the 
amount of an available appropriation. When, however, it is de- 
sired to purchase something out of an appropriation made to the 
division, it makes the purchase directly, or through the bureau of 
highways. 


y8 


Records of all purchases are kept in the street-cleaning divi- 
sion, and while these records were not complete for 1922, the pro- 
cedure has since been improved. Invoices are sent to the dis- 
tricts and other offices for certification of the quantities of goods 
received, and are carefully checked as to prices. 


Stores 

At all times a considerable quantity of stores is kept on hand, 
most of them being at the storehouse. According to the 1922 
financial report of the division, more than $125,000 of stores 
were carried over into 1923. This sum was obtained from rec- 
ords of the cost of stores received and issued, and not from a 
physical inventory. Stores are considered as consumed when 
issued to the districts or other stations, and inventories of issued 
but unconsumed stores are not taken. Transfers of materials 
and supplies are made occasionally between units without suit- 
able record. 


Records of Equipment 

From the very beginning of municipal operation, a com- 
plete record has been kept of the livestock—horses and mules— 
belonging to the division. Two card records are made for each 
animal, one being kept in the office of the superintendent of live- 
stock, while the other is kept at the stable to which the animal 
is assigned. Whenever an animal is transferred from one stable 
to another, the card relating to that animal is transferred also. 
The records of other equipment, however, are not so complete, 
although a similar card system for it was proposed. Each item 
cf equipment is numbered and has its number plate attached, but 
as no definite record of assignments is kept, and as number plates 
have been transferred from discarded equipment to new wagons 
manufactured at the shop, without making proper records of the 
transfer, a physical inventory, such as has been proposed by the 
division, will be necessary. 


Operating Costs 


Through a system of daily reports, concerning the personnel 
and equipment at work, which are received from each branch of 
the organization, and through work reports received from fore- 
men, sub-foremen, and other sources, it has been possible to com- 
pile rather elaborate records of operating costs. The system 


99 


of reporting is being modified and extended to furnish more ade- 
quate information to the engineering staff, which is planning more 
scientific operation. If the changes suggested by us in the 
memorandum of May 15, 1923, are made in the financial records 
of the division, it will be much easier to ascertain correct costs. 


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 


It is difficult, because of the indefinite factors involved, to 
compare the costs of street cleaning under contract work with 
the costs under municipal operation. The analysis presented in 
the foregoing pages, however, indicates that the municipal opera- 
tions in 1922 were conducted at a cost materially less than the 
probable cost of the work if done under contract, and at a cost 
less than that under contract operation in 1920. 

Although the saving in cost is important, of even greater 
importance are the high degree of satisfaction obtained under 
municipal operation and the noteworthy start made toward pro- 
viding suitable plant and equipment, particularly for refuse dis- 
posal. The city has also lessened materially the contractor in- 
fluence in municipal affairs. There can be no doubt, therefore, 
that the change to municipal operation has been financially benefi- 
cial to the city, and has proved advantageous in other respects as 
well. 

The system of accounting and cost keeping should be im- 
proved, both to provide accurate records and to furnish detailed 
cost information essential for developing the greatest economy 
consistent with satisfactory results. We recommend that the sys- 
tem of accounting and cost keeping outlined in the memorandum 
submitted to the director of public works on May 15, 1923, be put 
into operation at the earliest possble moment by the division of 
street cleaning. 


CHAPTER VII 
COOPERATION OF THE PUBEIC 


By its readiness to complain of unsatisfactory results, the 
public evidences a keen interest in the efficiency of the work of 
the division of street cleaning. This interest should prompt the 
citizen to assist the municipal forces in every possible way, espe- 
cially by careful observance of the restrictions placed upon him 
to promote the efficiency of the work. Unfortunately it has been 
found difficult, both in Philadelphia and cther American cities, to 
inspire this feeling of cooperation. Those who have supported 
the program of municipal operation against the contract method 
have hoped that such a feeling might be inspired. Previously many 
persons made the excuse that efforts to keep the streets clean or 
to use proper refuse receptacles only benefited the contractor, who 
was “paid well enough to do the work in spite of the conditions 
encountered.” This excuse is no longer tenable, and the possi- 
bility of reducing costs and improving the service should be an in- 
centive to cooperation. 

The most important benefit achieved by the introduction of 
city-wide municipal operation, however, is the elimination of the 
dual control formerly exercised by the contractors’ and the city’s 
supervisory organizations. 

Now that responsibility for results is no longer divided, the 
division of street cleaning naturally is more interested than for- 
merly in enlisting the cooperation of the citizen, in spreading the 
gospel of good municipal housekeeping, and in enforcing the 
laws without fear or favor when persuasion fails. 


Educational Campaign of 1922 

An appreciation of the need of informing the public of its 
duty not to litter the streets and to use proper refuse receptacles, 
inspired an intensive campaign, which was begun on July 1, 1922, 
conducted by inspectors of the division, with the assistance of 
special police officers and of other city departments and bureaus 
interested in this problem. During a six-month period, 260,000 
cards were distributed to acquaint householders and merchants 
with the provisions of the laws and ordinances. As a rule the 
inspectors, in addition to leaving a card, explained these regula- 
tions to the householder. Generally speaking, cooperation was 


I0O 


IOI 


given willingly, but where persistent violations continued, drastic 
measures were necessary. In 1922, 550 persons were penalized 
after having refused to comply with notices. The street-cleaning 
division reports that it encountered much political interference 
which hampered the efforts of the inspectors. It was found that 
some magistrates were sympathetic with so worthy an undertak- 
ing, but that others apparently were not. 

After this concentrated effort at education and law-enforce- 
ment, the work was continued by the individual inspectors. To 
produce lasting results, however, an intensive campaign must be 
maintained for many months, and it may be found advisable to 
continue educational efforts indefinitely. The seed should be sown 
in the rising generation, and the division of street cleaning should 
have the means of carrying out a thorough educational program 
which would include bringing the subject before children in the 
schools and before all organized groups. To meet existing con- 
ditions, the division of street cleaning should use a large force of 
inspectors clothed with police authority so that arrests may be 
made on sight without the formality of obtaining a warrant. 


Inadequacy of Laws and Ordinances 

The handling of refuse by the householder is regulated in 
part by city ordinance and in part by acts of the state legisla- 
ture. Among the ordinances of council may be mentioned the one 
of July 16, 1909, which prohibits the placing of rubbish in re- 
ceptacles containing ashes. 

Because of the inability of the city to impose effective pen- 
alties, however, ordinances of council are difficult to enforce. 
The penalties that may be imposed consist only of fines, and the 
violator cannot be held for non-payment of a fine. Fines which 
are not paid when imposed must be collected by means of a civil 
suit brought by the city, and the relatively small amounts in- 
volved make it unprofitable for the city to undertake collection. 
Sometimes the offender is put to no other inconvenience than 
that of attending a hearing, although it iies within the discretion 
of the magistrate to hold the violator under arrest pending the 
hearing. For these reasons the city ordinances have not been a 
great aid to refuse-disposal work. 

A state law prohibits the throwing of refuse into the streets 
and picking over or disturbing the contents of refuse receptacles 


102 


placed on the street for collection. This law should be used to 
eliminate the scavengers who create unsatisfactory conditions by 
their operations. There is also a state law, approved June 3, 
1915, under the authority of which the city board of health has 
established regulations concerning the receptacles to be used for 
garbage and ashes, and the bundling of rubbish. These regula- 
tions are as follows: 


AsH ReceptacLes: Shall be substantial, tight con- 
tainers, preferably of metal, and should not have a capacity 
of over five cubic feet; and they should not be filled higher 
than three inches below the top of the receptacles. 


RuppisH, WASTE PAPER AND LIKE REFusE: Shall be 
securely bundled or placed in tight receptacles in such a 
manner as to prevent them from causing a nuisance upon 
the property or upon the street. 


GARBAGE RECEPTACLES: Shall be of metal, tightly made, 
and shall be covered with close-fitting covers. 


PENALTY: For the first violation of this law, five (5) 
to fifty (50) dollars. For the second violation of this law, 
twenty-five (25) to two hundred (200) dollars, or sixty 
(60) days or less imprisonment, or both. 


Cooperation in Street Cleaning 


It may seem absurd to suggest that the public cooperate with 
the municipal forces in their effort to keep the streets clean. The 
refuse which accumulates on the streets is frequently looked upon 
as the inevitable accompaniment of city life, and the only effort 
considered necessary on the part of the public is to provide funds 
for removing it. There is, however, much promiscuous littering 
of the streets which could be avoided. The citizen should be so 
impressed with the importance of his cooperation in keeping the 
streets clean that refuse will be placed in receptacles at home, 
when this is possible, or in receptacles placed in the street at city 
expense. Several hundred containers for this purpose are now 
in use about the city; but this number is insufficient, and should 
be greatly increased in order that the municipal government may 
meet the citizen more than half way in eliminating street litter. 


103 


The Householder’s Handicap 


There are few American cities in which so serious a handi- 
cap has been placed upon the householder as in Philadelphia. It 
would almost appear that the intention in home construction in 
the past has been to make it difficult for the householder to dis- 
pose of waste. Yet, in the average home, over two and one-half 
tons of ashes, rubbish, and garbage are handled each year. Team 
alleys, which would permit the placing of refuse at the rear of 
properties for collection, are rare except in newly developed sec- 
tions. In the prevailing solid-row houses, there is usually no 
entrance to the cellar from the front street. It is, therefore, 
necessary to use the cellar windows or carry the refuse upstairs, 
through the house, into the street. Under these conditions there 
is no encouragement for the use of large receptacles, for they 
either will not go through the cellar window or they are too 
heavy or cumbersome to carry through the house. Accordingly, 
smaller receptacles are favored by the householder, and every kind 
of small container finds its way into use—the wooden box, paste- 
board containers, peach baskets, grape baskets and many others. 
More frequently leaky than tight, these receptacles leave a trail 
through the house and upon the street, while papers and rubbish 
which are not securely bundled or packed, or which have been 
pulled out by scavengers, are blown about by the wind. The 
conditions thus created in the street can be imagined better than 
described. No matter how carefully this material may be loaded, 
many streets, after the weekly collection, particularly on a windy 
day, present a very disorderly appearance. The street-cleaning 
gang which follows the collection wagons has no easy job in 
removing the dirt from the street and the litter from the side- 
walk. 

The separation of household waste into three classes, which 
is necessary if the value of these wastes, particularly garbage, is 
to be conserved, is in many ways inconvenient for the house- 
holder. Unwillingness to follow troublesome regulations probably 
accounts for the small extent to which householders make this 
separation. In planning for the future collection and disposal of 
refuse, the city shouid give careful consideration to the difficul- 
ties of obtaining separation of wastes in the household, and should 
endeavor to simplify the collection service. If garbage is to be 
incinerated, merely draining and wrapping it in paper for collec- 


104 


tion may be sufficient to permit its collection with the rubbish. 
For the present, however, the greatest possible cooperation from 
the householder is necessary, even though he labors under a handi- 
cap. The demands upon the householder should not be burden- 
some simply to permit of undertaking profitable methods of ref- 
use disposal. Since the citizen pays for the service from collec- 
tion to final disposal, he may feel that greater convenience might 
well be obtained at some slight financial sacrifice. 


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 


Experience has shown that the public, in general, does not 
cooperate readily in the work of keeping the streets clean and 
of collecting and disposing of refuse. Such cooperation is essen- 
tial if the work is to be done in the most efficient and economical 
manner. It is, therefore, important that a determined effort be 
made to educate those who impede the work through ignorance 
or carelessness, and to force compliance from those who wilfully 
refuse to do those things which they are able to do and which the 
general interest demands that they do. 

The necessary funds and personnel to conduct an effective 
campaign of public education in methods of assisting the work 
of the division and of keeping the cost at a minimum should be 
furnished the division of street cleaning. Such a campaign 
should be continued as long as it is needed. Those who will not 
comply willingly after they have been instructed should be forced 
to do so. To that end, the laws, ordinances, and regulations should 
be adequate to effect the desired results, and should be capable 
of strict enforcement. The division should be able, through its 
own employes, to obtain compliance with the regulations. 

It should be remembered, however, that the citizen in Phil- 
adelphia is handicapped by conditions which often render it diffi- 
cult for him to handle the household refuse in the most satisfac- 
tory way. The restrictions placed upon him should therefore be 
adapted to the existing conditions in order that unnecessary in- 
convenience may not be imposed. The householder may con- 
sider that his convenience is worth some additional cost of service. 

As a result of our survey of the present status of cooperation 
between the public and the street-cleaning and refuse-disposal 
services, we recommend that: 


105 


1. Adequate funds and personnel be furnished the divi- 
sion of street cleaning to conduct a comprehensive campaign 
to instruct the public in the best methods of handling house- 
hold wastes and of cooperating with the work of the divi- 
sion. 


2. The division of street cleaning be provided with 
effective means of enforcing compliance with regulations es- 
tablished for the benefit of the service. 


3. An effort be made to institute regulations which shall 
stipulate clearly the methods to be used, and which shall be 
capable of ready and effective enforcement. 


APPENDIX 
MEMORANDUM BY THE BuREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH OF 

PHILADELPHIA IN REGARD TO A SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING 

AND Cost KEEPING FOR THE DIVISION OF STREET CLEANING, 

BuREAU OF HicHways, CiITy OF PHILADELPHIA 

May 15, 1923 

The accounting system of the division of street cleaning 
should show, among other things, the assets, liabilities, expenses, 
expenditures, and income of the division. It should be operated 
on the double-entry principle, and control should be exercised 
through a general ledger. 

An account should be kept for each item of permanent prop- 
erty; and each of these accounts should show the date of acquisi- 
tion, the cost, the rate and basis of depreciation, the accumulated 
amount of depreciation, and the net book value. These accounts 
may be kept either in the general ledger or in subsidiary ledgers. 
If they are kept in subsidiary ledgers, one or more controlling 
accounts should be maintained in the general ledger.* 

Accounts should be kept for stores; all stores received should 
be charged to the appropriate stores accounts; all stores consumed 
should be credited to the stores accounts to which they were 
charged, and should be charged to the expense, asset, or other 
account affected by the use of the stores. One or more accounts 
should be kept in the general ledger to control the various stores 
accounts. 

An account should be kept in the general ledger to show 
the total expense (or the total expense exclusive of depreciation) 
of the division. If depreciation is not included in this account, 
one or more accounts should be kept in the general ledger to cover 
the depreciation charged to expense. Each distinct class of ex- 
pense accounts should agree in the aggregate with the expense 
account (or accounts) in the general ledger. 

Suitable accounts should be kept in the general ledger to con- 
trol each other item of asset and each item of liability and in- 
come. These accounts may be in whatever form and detail seems 
suitable. 


* Until the time when complete property accounts are kept, deprecia- 


nee can be determined approximately in the manner employed in table 
-2. 


106 


107 


Strictly speaking, assets, liabilities,income,and expense should 
be recorded on what is known as the accrual basis, rather than on 
the cash basis. However, since the accrual basis is likely to prove 
the more complex and laborious in the recording of the expendi- 
tures of the street-cleaning division, it will doubtless be more 
advantageous to use the cash basis. Thus the expenditures would 
be brought into the general accounts when the payments are 
made (that is, when the warrants are issued) and the appropria- 
tion accounts are charged. The charges to the appropriation ac- 
counts resulting from the issuance of warrants would, therefore, 
be the primary record of the expenditures. The analysis neces- 
sary for getting these expenditures on the general ledger could 
possibly be made on the appropriation accounts, but it will doubt- 
less be found more satisfactory to have a separate warrant reg- 
ister for this purpose and also to make therein one or more other 
analyses such as are indicated below. 

A current check upon the expenditures of the street-cleaning 
division would be furnished by the monthly statements of the ap- 
propriation accounts. It will be necessary, of course, to indicate 
on those accounts which are used jointly by the highway and 
street-cleaning divisions the amounts which are chargeable to the 
latter division. 

In addition to the general ledger and the warrant register, 
a double-entry journal is required to make the double-entry system 
complete. In the journal would be recorded all transactions other 
than the expenditures. 

The discussion above has referred primarily to the main ac- 
counting system. It provides a basis upon which cost accounting 
can be developed to any degree that is desired. This cost ac- 
counting should be tied definitely into the complete record of ex- 
penditures. It is suggested that in addition to the primary analy- 
sis of expenditures into outlay and expense on the warrant regis- 
ter, these expenditures should be distributed over organization- 
unit accounts. The type of organization-unit accounts which it is 
desirable to keep is indicated in the following list, which, of 
course, can be modified to meet the needs of the street-cleaning 
division: 


¥ 


OR AP hie tk gd 


10. 


108 


Stables (upkeep and care of livestock, including activities 
of the model farm) 

Wagon Shops (maintenance of wagons and miscellaneous 
equipment ) 

Garage (storage and maintenance of motor equipment) 

Dumps (rental and operation of disposal grounds) 

Destructor Plants (operation and maintenance) 

Garbage-Reduction Plant (operation and maintenance) 

Street Operations (direct costs of street cleaning, ash and 
rubbish collection, garbage collection, snow removal, wa- 
ter transportation, rentals of livestock and equipment, 
etc. ) 

Storehouse (supplies and materials service) 

General Administration (directing officials, engineers, clerks, 
inspectors ) 

Plant and Equipment (including improvements to property) 


These unit accounts could be further subdivided into ‘appro- 


priate sub-units (for example, Stables into individual accounts 
for each stable and for the model farm), and entries could be 
made in whatever detail is desired (for example, Personal Ser- 
vices according to payroll code resignations). 


In addition to the organization-unit accounts, functional ac- 


counts could be set up which would to a large extent depend 
upon the analysis of expenditures by organization-unit accounts. 
Such functional accounts might be created as: 


. Street Cleaning 

. Ash and Rubbish Collection 

Ash and Rubbish Disposal 

. Garbage Collection 

Garbage Disposal 

Snow Removal 

. Miscellaneous Purposes (such as services for highway 
division, or for other bureaus or departments) 


mrmroman#s 


These functional accounts can be drawn to show costs with 


or without depreciation, and statements can be prepared from 
them to cover any desired period (one month, three months, six 
months, or a year). 


109 


This method of building up cost figures is one which fur- 
nishes an easy check upon the entire system. Certain control ac- 
counts will be provided which in themselves are of value to the 
administrative officials. The detail cost keeping can be carried to 
such length as is desired, since the system is susceptible of ready 
expansion. Several different ways can be employed to set up the 
proposed system, and many of the ledger records now maintained 
can doubtless be incorporated into it without very extensive 
changes. 


Ne. 


Bureau of Municipal Research 


905 Social Service Building 
311 South Juniper Street 
Philadelphia 


ose 


The Bureau of Municipal Re- 
search of Philadelphia, maintained 
under citizen control, studies the 
problems of local government— 


1. To cooperate with public 
officials in technical matters. 


2. To report facts on which intel- 
ligent public opinion and action may 
be based. 


eee 


TRUSTEES 


GHORGH BURNHAM, JR., President 
Perey H. CuarkK, Treasurer 


DIMNER BEEBER BENJAMIN H. LUDLOW 

Cyrus H. K. CURTIS Miss MARION REILLY 

SAMUEL S. FELS CHARLES J. RHOADS 

JOSEPH H. HAGEDORN J. HENRY SCATTERGOOD tar 
CLARENCE Li HARPER Miss FLORENCE SIBLEY me 
STRICKLAND L. KNEASS WALTER Woop Clee 
MAaLcoLM Lioyp, JR. Dr. GEORGE WOODWARD 


WitL1amM C. Bryer, Director j ta 
CLARENCE G. SHENTON, Assistant Director ‘aig 
RUSSELL RAMSEY, Secretary 


